


Unexpected (Reading HoH)

by Middlemist1



Category: Percy - Fandom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth Chase - Freeform, F/M, Reading the Books, Reading the house of hades, The Seven, back in time, percabeth, percy jackson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-02-12 10:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12957396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Middlemist1/pseuds/Middlemist1
Summary: The Heroes of Olympus are sent on an adventure through time...Reading the House of Hades





	1. Percy I

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus belong to Rick Riordan

A/N: Unlike the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series written by the amazing Rick Riordan, this fanfiction will be written in first person. 

As a little game, I have hidden a reference in here from another fandom. Please comment which fandom it is and what the reference is below!

\-----

The first thing I noticed was the girl.

She was around eight, with a small, pert nose, and slightly up tilted eyes. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, and her clothes were plain, but finely made. 

But what struck me were her eyes. They looked normal, but they were bright red, and flame seemed to be behind them like smoke under glass. 

And she was looking straight at me.

I sat up. Well, tried to anyway. The second I moved my body, it felt as though someone had slid a dagger between my ribs, so I decided that laying down and talking didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"Lady Hestia." I croaked, feeling as through I had not spoken for days.

Her eyes flared up with surprise.

In the few seconds it had taken her to form a response, I took a quick look around the room, assessing where I am.

Bright light filtered through the curtains that slowly swayed in the breeze. Next to the girl, on the opposite side of the room was a small hearth, the coals still glowing with heat. Surrounding me was a mixture of medical supplies and medications that stacked the shelves all around me. Some of the medications seemed to be labeled with simple modern mortal medications, like Ibuprofen and Advil, while others seemed more godly, like nectar and ambrosia. There were even a few odd ones, like a "pepperup potion" or "skelegrow". 

I was laying on a bed half surrounded by a curtain. The bed was covered with bright yellow, no gold,blankets. The room, actually, seemed to be covered in gold. The tiles, the walls, even the ceiling seemed to be themed in gold. The color scheme oddly reminded me of the Apollo cabin back at Camp Half-Blood.

"You know who I am?" She said this with raised eyebrows, it being more of a question than a statement. 

That put me on my guard.

I slowly sat up, assessing her.

"Yes," I said slowly, trying to see if she was being serious. "Do you know who I am?"

"No," She said, tilting her head to the side in a way that was almost feline, "Should I?'

I probably would have said more, but my head pounded, I slipped back into unconsciousness.

\-----

I went in and out of consciousness for what seemed like days. Sometimes Hestia was there, sometimes she wasn't. Every once in a while some guy in a white lab coat seemed to be checking on me. When I finally regained consciousness I didn't open my eyes right away, for I felt a presence sitting next to the hearth, tending the the flames. I racked my memory for what had happened. 

Tartarus. Bob. Arai.  _Annabeth._ And a flash of light. That was the last thing that I remembered, a flash of light. Which is especially odd, as there is no light in tartarus.

I shot up. Hestia jumped a little before she seemed to settle herself. Her eyes got that look again in her eyes as she started to say, "Wh-"

"Annabeth," I said, beginning to freak out, "Where is Annabeth."

Hestia got a bit of a confused look be for she shook her head and said to me, "The girl you were with? She is safe, unconscious, but healing and safe" She continued "You were the first to wake up."

I felt my shoulders relax and I was slowly lowering myself back onto the pillow when I felt the bandages. Feeling as terrible as I was, and covered in this many bandages, I tried not to think about how bad the injuries were when I first appeared here- wherever here is.

"Thank the gods," I muttered.

"You shouldn't move that quickly," Hestia said, "You are still healing, and you are lucky to be alive, for gorgons blood poisoning isn't an easy thing to come back from." She began to speak again, "Who are you?"

I started, and said, "Lady Hestia, we have met multiple times, how can you not-"

Just then the door burst open. Standing in the doorway stood a man in white lab coat. He looked at me, and surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Your awake," the man said said, looking a bit shocked, "I wasn't expecting you to wake for another few hours."

I stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "I'm sorry, who are you?" It seems this question was going to be through around a lot.

And I could have sworn that I could feel Annabeth punch my shoulder for the abruptness of the question.

The man, no  _god,_  I realized, for this was definitely a god who was standing before me. He had that aura, that otherworldly sense, that made it obvious that even though he looked and talked like the mortals running all around New York with there jobs, stress, and short-lifespans, he was definitely not one.

The god shook his head as if to clear away whatever thought was nagging at him.

"Of course, forgive my manners," the god said, "I am Asclepius, the Greek god of healers."

"Oh," I said intelligently, "All right then."

"Is it alright if I do a quick check up?" Asclepius said, "To make sure all of the poison is gone."

I slowly nodded my head, not quite trusting this "Aslcepius".

As he came over to check me I let my mind wander. 

Alright, step one is figure out where I am. It seemed that I was on Olympus, probably in Apollo's own personal infirmary or something, if the color scheme was any indication. I remembered Annabeth telling me something about Asclepius being Apollo's son. 

Step two was a bit harder to figure out. How did I get here? I was stumped. Maybe some god- no. The gods were at war with themselves, that and the fact that I had been in Tartarus, which was out of the gods domain that if they had wanted to get me and Annabeth out they wouldn't have been able to. Not that they would have cared to in the first place. Alright, so not a god, not a titan, because Bob would have been able to get us out. Not a god, not a titan, maybe a primordial. But what primordial world want to get me out of Tartarus? Lets see, Nyx? Doubtful Ouranus? No, he's pretty much dead. Gaea? Maybe... if she wanted to take me and Annabeth out of Tartarus to kill us for our blood to be used to awaken her. But she went through a lot of trouble to get us down there in the first place. I would have kept on running deities through my head if Asclepius hadn't spoken.

"It appears that the poison is completely gone," he said, his eyebrows scrunched as if he was completing an extremely complicated puzzle and was looking for one piece in a sea of a hundred. He shook his head again. "I'll come back later to check on you." After I'd nodded he he'd turned around and walked out, still looking as though he was trying to solve some complected puzzle.

Hestia sat up straighter and cleared her throat, before asking in a polite but demanding way, obviously having wanted to ask the question for a while.

"Who are you?"

\-----

A/N Just so you know, this is my first fanfiction. I ask that if you are to criticize, please give me some constructive criticism. I would personally highly appreciate the constructive criticism, because it would give me room to improve. 

Written 12/05/17

1,138 words


	2. Percy II

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus, all rights go to Rick Riordan

This chapter has been edited.

A/N: I know that the Battle of the Labyrinth was written in 2008, and the House of Hades was written in 2013, but for the stories sake I am going to pretend that Percy lives in 2017, and has gone back to 2014. 

\-----

Hestia sat up straighter and cleared her throat, before asking in a polite but demanding way, obviously having wanted to ask the question for a while.

"Who are you?"

\-----

I looked at Hestia.

I was about to tell Hesia my name, although I was a bit hurt that she didn't know who I was. Especially seeing as we had met on several occasions, one happening to be the time she advised me to talk to my mom before going to take on the Achilles Curse. But before I could speak, Hestia answered her own question.

"Because to me you look like young Perseus Jackson. And if it weren't for the fact that Mr. Jackson is 14 years old, and is currently on a on a quest in the Labyrinth as, I would say that you were him. Only you look to be about 17 or 18, and are most definitely not on your way back from the Labyrinth, for you have been laying in front of me for the past two days as I have watched young Mr. Jackson's progress," Hestia stopped for a moment to take a breath before continuing, "And at first I had convinced myself that I was seeing things, that you must another of Poseidon's offspring, somehow hidden for almost two decades, and that the girl you appeared with was one of Athena's, but then you woke up and asked for "Annabeth", which just happens to be the same name as young Ms. Chase, who is also on a quest in the Labyrinth."

When she finished with her outburst I admit I was a bit shocked, for I had never seen her speak so forcefully. She must have been pondering for - how long did she say I was unconscious for? Two days? Well, she must have been thinking for two days about who she thought I was and why I looked so familiar. I couldn't blame her for being impatient.

"So I ask you," Hestia said, jolting me back to the present, "Who are you?"

I stared at Hestia for a second as the pieces slid into place, before saying slowly, "What year is it?"

\-----

Three years in the past.

That's when I was. 2014, three years in the past.

Hestia gave me a few minutes to get over my shock after I had confirmed that I was Percy Jackson. She said that she would give me a half an hour before she would return with someone to question me.

Right after she left I realized that I had been so shocked about her outburst and then the revelation about where, no when, I was, that I had completely forgotten to ask for more information about how Annabeth was doing. What if she was seriously hurt? Hestia had said that she was healing. Did that mean that she was really hurt- no. Think happy thoughts Percy, bad thoughts have never gotten anyone anywhere. 

I sat for the rest of the half of the hour thinking, barely moving. I know what you are thinking. Percy Jackson, the ADHD demigod, laying almost completely still, thinking? Well, I guess being shot three years in the past not knowing if your best friend/girlfriend is hurt, can really help someone just lay still for a bit.

While I was laying there with nothing to do, four questions formed in my head. The first was, how did I get here? Who brought me here. I had already ran a whole bunch of people through my head, but none of them matched. 

The second really worried me, why am I here? What in Hades am I doing three years in the past? If someone had rescued us from Tartarus, and had the ability to shoot us three years in the past, why would they not just put me back on the Argo II? Why here? And more specifically, why this time?

The third was, how do I get back? I didn't have the slightest clue for that one.

And fourth, what happens when I go back? Will I be sent back to Tartarus, or to the Argo II, or someplace else entirely.

With my mind racing at a million miles per hour, I didn't notice that he entered the room until he was standing right beside me, Hestia a few steps behind.

I sat up, and slowly bowed my head.

"Father."

I looked at Hestia through the corner of my eyes, silently asking why she had brought him.

Hestia cleared her throat and looked a bit flustered as she stuttered out, "I brought him because he seemed like the person who you would most likely tell us about... what happened, and where you are from." She paused, "That, and the fact that he seemed to be the only Olympian who would be the least likely to want to kill you, if I am remembering the first time you met the Olympian Counsel correctly."

Poseidon had raised his eyebrows a bit, but nodded his head, agreeing with what Hestia said.

"So," my father said, dragging out the "o", the conversation getting awkward already. "Um, what year are you from?" he paused a bit between each of these words

I shook my head a bit to clear my thoughts. "2017," I replied, sitting up a little straighter. 

"And you are my son, you are Perseus Jackson?"

"Just Percy, and yes, I am your son."

My father nodded his head. "And do you know why you are here?" he said, hesitating a little.

"No, I just remember a flash of light"

Poseidon nodded his head again.

"Also, if it is okay to ask, what happened? How did you get poisoned, and what happened to the other girl you came with?"

"Annabeth," I muttered.

My father looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Her name is Annabeth," I clarified, "And this sounds an awful lot like an interrogation."

He gave me a look saying that yes, this was an interrogation, and that he hated it as much as I did. "What happened?" he asked again, a bit more forcefully.

"I would rather not talk about it."

Poseidon started to protest, when Hestia interrupted him, having sensed the change in my demeanor.

"Maybe this would be better if taken up in the council room," she said. 

I nodded, deciding that this conversation had gotten to the point where I would rather have several people there to see if one of them would back me up. 

"There is a bathroom around the corner," Hestia continued, "a change of clothes is already in there waiting for you."

I looked down at my tattered Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and ripped up jeans and decided that yes, a change of clothes would be nice.

The clothes were similar to what I had been wearing. Bright orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, and jeans.

When I returned, Hestia and my father were sitting next to the hearth discussing something in a low voice. When they heard me enter they turned around tolook at me and Hestia said something that filled me with shoulder dropping relief.

"Before we go to the Council room, we have a stop to make, Asclepius just contacted me," she said, "The Daughter of Athena is awake."

\-----


	3. Annabeth III

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series, all tights go to Rick Riordan

This chapter has been edited.

\-----

I woke up to a brightly lit, gold themed room. A god, for it was obviously a god because no mortal could give off an aura like that, in a white lab coat was standing next to me writing notes on a sheet of paper.

I shot up, and the god jumped back a bit.

"Where am I?" I demanded, "Who are you?"  _Where is Percy?_ was my unspoken question.

The god shook himself to recover from his shock. 

"You are on Olympus, in Lord Apollo's main infirmary," he said, "and I am Asclepius, god of healers."

"A Son of Apollo." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," he said, nodding. He must have read the panic in my eyes because he soon answered my last question.

"And Mr. Jackson is almost completely healed, miraculously." he said, muttering the last part to himself as if he couldn't quite believe it. He started to speak when the door burst open.

"Mother!?" I exclaimed, a bit confused as to why she was here, especially after I saw her expression. She looked somewhere border-lining cautious and worried. But after she had heard me call her mother, she swapped out that cautiousness for weariness.

"So you are Annabeth Chase." She stated, closing her eyes a bit while rubbing one of her temples as if to dispel a headache.

"Yes?" I said, hurt that she had even questioned it, especially after everything I had done for her. I mean, honestly, I retrieved the Athena Parthenos because she had told me to, which had pretty much put me though self-inflicted torture to get the damned thing, and she couldn't even be sure it was me- no I thought. There had to be something going on here. Now that I though about it, Asclepius had told me that this was Apollo's Infirmary, which had to be impossible, because it had been destroyed in the Battle of Manhattan, and I had designed the new one, which looked nothing like this. It was a lot less gold, as Apollo had requested, because he had had patients complaining of headaches from the brightness of it. Off topic, I told myself. But the point was this building had been destroyed a little less than a year ago. Unless maybe they somehow build a new one. Which would have taken quite a while, and the last time I was up on Olympus there were no plans for it, which means that in the amount of time that I have been gone, they was no way that they could have built a new one. Unless- 

"How long was I unconscious for?!" I said, starting to panic.  _Get it together Annabeth_ , my head told itself.

"About two days," Asclepius said. 

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is this building here then?" I asked.

They both began to look confused.

"What do you mean, how is this building here?" Athena said

I looked at her oddly. How could she not remember?

"This building was -." I suddenly couldn't speak. My eyes widened. I was trying to say that this building was destroyed last year, in the Battle of Manhattan

Suddenly it hit me. If I had only been unconscious for two days , and this building as somehow sanding here then only one thing was possible. It seemed so unlikely that I nearly didn't say it out loud, but it was the only semi-logical explanation.

"Am I in the past?" I asked

Athena nodded grimly.

"2014," she said. "As I am sure Asclepius already told you, Poseidon's son is awake and about to head to the council room. You are going to join him," Athena said, getting right down to business, "unless, she is not well enough?" she asked Asclepius, as a second thought.

"I'm well enough."                                                                                                                                                                "She is well enough." 

Asclepius and I both spoke at the same time.

Athena nodded her head. 

"There is a change of clothes for you in the bathroom around the corner, meet me back here in 5 minutes."

Apparently retrieving the Athena Parthenos doesn't win you any point if you haven't done it yet. I got up and got changed as quickly as possible.

\-----

I walked down the hallway, my mother leading (as always) with me and Asclepius following close behind. If I was being honest with my self, I still wasn't over the whole "Follow the Mark of Athena" thing. My mother knew, _knew,_ that none of her children had ever returned from that quest, most of them had never even made it past the first step. She had practically signed  my death warrant when she handed me the coin on that subway platform. And she knew what she would be putting me though. Gods, she was supposed to be my mother, not my executioner. If I hadn't gotten lucky and managed to make my way through those tunnels, I wouldn't be alive right now. And, if it weren't for the Mark of Athena, Percy and I would never had fallen into Tartarus and would probably be on the Argo II with our friends on the way to the Doors of Death right now! So yeah, I wasn't completely over the Mark of Athena thing yet.

As we turned a corner I heard footsteps coming down the hall that joined with our own. My mother slowed to a stop. One second I was standing there, then next I was wrapped in someones arms. We just hugged each other, as if to reassure that we were together, alive and safe.

Percy pulled back to look at me. 

"Annabeth, thank the gods." he said. 

I pulled him closer and put my head on his shoulder as I started to silently cry when it hit me that we were out, that we were  _safe_. 

"Where together." he said. If I hadn't already loved him, that one sentence would have made me.

I pulled back and wiped away my tears.

"I was so worried," I said, "I couldn't see you or find you, but I could hear you, and when I heard you cry out in pain I thought- I thought..." I trailed off.

"I'm okay." Percy said. "See, completely healed." he said, pulling back.

I gave a pointed look to his bandaged arms. 

"Alright, almost completely healed." he conceded.

I nodded, looking at him skeptically.

Athena cleared her throat, her eyes narrowed at our display of affection.

"We should get going, the Council is expecting us." she stated, before turning on her heel and began walking down the corridor again, leaving us no choice but to follow.

\-----

A/N: Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I am trying to keep each chapter around 1,000 words. It gives me a goal, makes it easier to get more done. That, and I have a plan for the next chapter, and I would like actually to write the plan in the next chapter. Anyway, please comment.  All comments are highly appreciated!

 


	4. Annabeth IV

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus, all rights go to Rick Riordan

This chapter has been edited.

A/N:  **IMPORTANT!** Once 14 year old Percy and Annabeth are introduced, current Percy and Annabeth (17 years old) names will be italicized, and as of right now I believe that all POV's will be in either  _Percy's_  or  _Annabeth's_. I will not italicize there names until young Percy and Annabeth are introduced.

\-----

The Throne Room's large doors opened to a room full of arguing gods.

"Who are they?!"

"Why are they here?!"

"What is it with that box, and why won't it open?!"

"Let's just kill them and be done with it!"

Three guesses who said that last one.

Hestia, who was up until that point sitting quietly at the hearth, cleared her throat. As all of the gods turned to her she nodded her head towards us while saying quietly, but not timidly, "We have guests."

The gods all turned towards us.

Zeus sat up a bit straighter before saying, "Who are you and what are you doing here." 

"Wow, straight to the point," Percy whispered to me. I suppressed a laugh, before stepping forward, knowing that if Percy was the one who started speaking, we probably wouldn't survive the next few minutes.

"My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Lord Zeus," I said bowing, "and this is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." I tugged Percy's arm to get him to bow as well.

The gods opened there mouths to start talking (most likely to through accusations at us) before I said,

"We are from the year of 2017." I finished.

Whispers broke out among the gods. Zeus looked over to Athena, who had moved to her throne, for confirmation. She nodded to him, before stating to all the gods, 

"My daughter speaks the truth."

Zeus nodded his head, albeit looking a bit shock by this revelation, before asking us,

"And might you tell me what that is?" he said, gesturing to a small bronze box laying on a table (a mortal sized table, not a godly sized one) in the center of the room. 

"It appeared with you." Zeus stated, glaring at us a bit

 The box was beautifully decorated, with whorls and geometric shapes covering the entire thing. As Percy and I stepped closer to it so that we could see it more clearly. Decorating the top of the box were doors, similar to the elevator doors to enter Olympus, only the colors seemed to be introverted. They were chained down to what seemed the bottom of a large cavern, and if I looked at the picture in my peripheral vision I could have sworn that the doors seemed to jerk and move, as if trying to escape from the chains holding it captive. I reached out to touch it-

"No!" someone exclaimed. 

I jerked my hand away before looking for the source of the shout. 

Apollo cleared his throat to clarify.

"Don't touch it, it hurts anyone who does." he said, I nodded subconsciously, but as I turned my attention back to the book I had heard a voice in the back of my head.

" _So you are wisdom's daughter and the sea's son,_ " it said. The voice was terrible and wonderful all at once. As if joy and despair, excitement and hatred were all mixed together. Like metal grating on a stone floor and a bird singing it's gorgeous song. I felt like both jumping away and leaning in closer. Percy seemed to hear it as well, for he was looking at the box in horror. I had a feeling that my expression mirrored his. " _It tis a pleasure to meet you at last._ "

" _Chaos told me to not open for anyone except for you two._ " it continued in that terrible, yet wonderful voice, "G _o ahead, open me, I won't bite._ " It seemed to laugh a little at that.

I didn't want to, but my hand moved of it's own accord. It seemed that Percy's did to, because suddenly we were both holding the box. The gods sucked in a breath, as if waiting for us to collapse and scream in pain. But we didn't. In fact, once the top was off I felt better, as if some pressure in my brain that I hadn't noticed before had left. Similar to how Percy described it felt when he was no longer possessed by an  _Eidolon._

Inside the box was a black book, titled with golden cursive letters. Cursive is killer on the dyslexia, so it took me a few seconds to read it but I eventually made out  _The House of Hades_. Percy and I both stiffened. No author was mentioned. Percy cautiously reached in and grabbed the book. As he picked it up a note fell out, one that was definitely not there seconds ago. I slowly picked it up and walked over to hand it to my mother.

She cleared her throat.

_Dear Gods and Demigods,_

_As I am sure that you have already figured out, these demigods are from three years in the future.  I have sent them back in time to read this book, the House of Hades. I hope this will help the Olympians make smarter choices in the upcoming wars to help with fewer casualties, and less fighting. But do not think that reading this book will help prevent the wars, because it will not. These wars are inevitable, but I hope that reading this book will help make these wars less drastic. Now, before you get started, there are some rules._

_1\. You must read **each**  word, no skipping. (This will make more sense when you have started.)       _

_2\. You must have each head counselor of Camp Half-Blood present, both praetors and at least two centurions along with the auger, and the following demigods: Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. Piper Mclean, Leo Valdez, and Frank Zhang, all unclaimed. Gods, do not claim these demigods, for that is something you must do when the time is right.   And to Hades I now write to directly - I need you to pull a soul from the Fields of Asphodel, the soul of Hazel Levesque. All of these  demigods must be present. The Satyr, Grover Underwood, and the Mortal, Rachel Elizabeth Dare must also be present. All of the people previously mentioned will forget this book's reading ever happened one you finish, but the feelings they have, and the friendships they make will nag them in the back of the head when they encounter each other again in the future, which will hopefully lead to less fighting._

_3\. Gods, I now write to you directly, no harming each other for deeds that have not yet been done, nor may you harm **any**  of the people previously mentioned, no matter what they are, or what they will do. Demigods are not allowed to harm each other either, the Roman's and Greek's may have  **minor**   **verbal** fights, but if it begins to escalate, break up the fight immediately._

_Sincerely, The Creator, Chaos_

_P.S: Breaking any of these rules will have severe punishments_

\-----

A/N If there is a specific demigod that you want to be in this that I may have forgotten about please contact me, and I will try to fit them in the story line, or a demigod that I have mentioned (like a counselor from Camp Half-Blood that I forget to mention, because this is likely to happen) please contact me,


	5. Percy V

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series, all right go to Rick Riordan

This chapter has been edited.

A/N:  **IMPORTANT!** Just reminding you again, any names that are in _italics_ means that they are from the future. There names will begin to be italicized once the younger versions show up, not before then.

\-----

The Olympians all looked at each other.

"What should we do?" asked Aphrodite.

"We follow the rules," said Athena.

"What if it isn't Chaos, and someone is just playing us." Aphrodite argued.

"Someone who has the power to send people back in time and make a book of there recent adventure that they could have no way known about that quickly?" said Athena, "It's unlikely, and yes, there is a chance that someone is playing us, but there is also a higher chance that this really is Chaos, and if we don't follow these we will get punished, and do any of you really want to take that risk?"

Nobody said anything.

"Alright then," Athena said, "Perseus and I will go to Camp Half-Blood to retrieve the camp counselors there, as Chaos requested, because Percy is seen as one of there leaders and I am one of the Greeks more respected gods and they will listen to me. Annabeth will go with Mars-"

She was cut off by Zeus clearing his throat, giving Athena a glare and a pointed look at the two young demigods.

"We already know about Camp Jupiter," I told them, "I was there praetor for about an hour," the gods looked raised there eyebrows at this, "and we are kind of at war with them." I muttered that last part to myself.

Athena nodded in cold acknowledgement at me before continuing where she left off,

"Annabeth will go with Mars to Camp Jupiter. Annabeth, just say that you were a demigod sent by Jupiter, not that you are my daughter because, as I'm sure you know, the Romans don't like me much." she said this with a scowl on her face.

"Oh, and Mars," she paused, "let my daughter do most of the talking." Some of the Olympians laughed lightly at this. The four of us will leave tomorrow morning at 8:00 sharp." With that she flashed out.

\-----

"So, what are you going to say?" Annabeth asked me the next morning. It was 7:56, and we were standing outside of the throne room, waiting for Athena and Mars. 

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "I was just planning on winging it."

"Of course you were," Annabeth muttered, rolling her eyes playfully at me. 

"Do you know if our past selves will be at Camp Half-Blood?" I asked Annabeth

"Honestly, I'm not sure," she said, "try asking my mother, she'll know."

Just then Athena flashed in next to us.

"Ask me what?" she said, eyebrows raised.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Percy was just wondering if our past selves will be at Camp Half-Blood when you go there."

I was nodding along intelligently with everything she said.

"The Battle of the Labyrinth took place last night, so yes, they will be there."

This time both Annabeth and I nodded our heads. We both looked at each other, each silently wondering what it would be like meeting our past selves.

\-----

Fifteen minutes later Athena and I were walking down Half-Blood hill. It was breakfast, so all of the demigods were in the pavilion. As we neared it, Athena suddenly stopped and pulled a hat out of nowhere. When I say nowhere, I mean that one second she wasn't holding a hat and the next second she was. She handed it to me and told me told me to put it on. I guess that I wasn't all that surprised when I turned invisible. It was similar to Annabeth's Yankee's cap, except it was for the Red Sox's.

"I will need this back, I just know that it would be better to only tell the people that need to know instead of the whole camp." Athena said, "I will go into the pavilion, tell Chiron that I wish to meet with all of the Camp Counselors, and you will follow me to the meeting room in the Big House and take it off there, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." I said. I half wanted to salute to her, but I don't think that she would appreciate that.

The second she entered the pavilion everyone went quiet. She looked around the pavilion with a cold hard stare, that softened only when it rested on the kids from Cabin 6.

"Lady Athena," Chiron said, trotting over, "Might I ask why you are honoring us with you presence?"

"Chiron," Athena said, smiling a little (she has always had a soft spot for educators), "I would like to meet with all of the Camp Counselors."

"Of course," Chiron said, as the Counselors stood up. Including me. And not me, me, not 2017 me, but little me, 2014 me, stood up and walked over to 2014 Annabeth and-gods this was so weird. 

"Would you like anyone else?" Chiron asked.

"Thalia Grace and Grover Underwood." Athena stated

I realized that the hunters were sitting at Artemis's table, and that Grover was sitting at the same table as past me had been.

She then addressed the Counselors, "We will meet in the Big House's meeting room in 10 minutes." she said to the shocked demigods, before turning on her heel an leaving. It isn't every day that a god comes down at 8:15 in the morning to call a meeting with the Camp Counselors.

As Athena and I walked out of the pavilion I took the time to look around camp. It looked so different. There were only about half of the cabins that there are in 2017. That, and the fact that the place was a mess from the Battle of the Labyrinth. It it about to get much worse, I thought sadly

\-----  _From this point on, if Percy and Annabeth's names aren't italicized, then they are from 2014._

Ten minutes later we were all sitting around the ping pong table in the Big House's meeting room. Well, Athena and I were standing, but everyone else was sitting. Usually whenever we have these meetings most of us mess around. But apparently not when a god is in a room. Or when you just fought a major battle in a war.

"Now, you are probably all wondering why we have gathered you all her this morning," Athena said.

"We?" Annabeth said.

"Yes, we." Athena said. She looked over to where I was standing in the corner, on the opposite end of the table from Percy. " _Perseus_?"

I took off the hat. 

Everyone gasped. A few kids almost fell out there chairs. Travis Stoll actually did fall out of his chair. 

I smiled and waved. One kid actually waved back.

Athena raised her eyebrows. "Would you like to explain?" It wasn't really a question.

I cleared my throat and stepped out if the corner.

"Hi," I said. "You are probably all wondering who I am, aren't you" 

They all nodded, still a bit in shock.

"Well my name is  _Percy Jackson_ -"

"Wait," I interrupted myself. Well, technically it was 2014 Percy who interrupted me but- ugh, this was so confusing. Young Percy continued, "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Yes you are," I said, clearing things up, "you are 14 year old Percy Jackson who lives in 2014, I am 17 year old Percy Jackson who live in 2017." All I got were blank looks. I sighed. "I'm from the future."

That got a reaction.

There was a ton of yelling, some people asking a ton of questions while others where down right accusing me of lying.

"Be quiet!" I yelled. Everyone was quiet. I sighed, "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, I am from 2017, three years in the future. I was sent back here by Chaos with one other demigod to try to minimize that casualties in the upcoming, and unavoidable war-." I suddenly couldn't say "wars". It felt as though someone had grabbed my tongue and held it to the roof of my mouth.

Nobody seemed to notice.

Everyone started talking again. I told them to be quiet again.

"Look, that's all I can tell you right now. I don't fully understand why I, specifically, was sent back, but what I do know it that Chaos sent a book back with us, a book that we all have to read, up on Olympus. Chaos also sent a letter saying that we had to get all of the camp counselors of Camp Half-Blood along with some others to go to Olympus to read it. Chaos was very specific. Chaos also said that if we don't follow the rules exactly that there will be severe punishments. Any more information that you would like to know is most likely information that I do not have, because that is all I know."

"I do have one question that you should know the answer to," said Annabeth.

"What?" I sighed wearily. I was expecting her to ask some complex question about how time travel is possible or something. After all she was Annabeth, just miniaturized.

"Who is the other demigod you came with?" she said.

I raised my eyebrows, not expecting that.

"You."

\-----

A/N: Should I write about Annabeth and Mars at Camp Jupiter for the next chapter, or start off the chapter with them already at Olympus? And, if you haven't noticed already, I haven't given Chaos any pronouns, and I apologized how repetitive it is saying Chaos over an over again.


	6. Percy VI

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

A/N: I know that I asked in the last chapter if I should do a chapter on Annabeth and Mars in Camp Jupiter, but I decided that I don't know enough about Camp Jupiter to do an entire chapter on it. Sorry to anyone who wanted a chapter about it.

\-----

Getting to Olympus with thirteen demigods, a satyr, and a goddess was a challenge. The guy at the desk who gives out the key cards for the elevator took one look at us and handed over a card, eyes bugging out. Athena had the brilliant idea of us all going up at the same time. Let's just say that I had an itch on my nose for half the time that I couldn't reach because my hand was practically pinned to the wall.

I did a head count. We had Thalia Grace for Zeus and Artemis, mini Percy for Poseidon, Katie Gardner for Demeter, Clarisse La Rue for Ares, mini Annabeth for Athena, Michael Yew for Apollo, Charles Beckendorf for Hephaestus, Silena Beauregard for Aphrodite, Conner and Travis Stoll for Hermes, and Castor and Pollux for Dionysus. I felt my heart break a bit every time I saw someone who was no longer alive.

In conclusion, way to many people for an elevator with a capacity of 7 persons. Some quiet, peaceful (and annoying) elevator music played in the background. 

A few minutes later the elevator doors opened and we all spilled out. We walked toward the Throne Room quietly, none of us saying a word. Athena had gone ahead to tell the Council that the Greek demigods had arrived, so I was leading them.

We were almost there when a bright flash had us all freeze in our tracks. Annabeth appeared, obviously having been transported in by some god.

"Hey..." she said trailing off, leaning sideways a bit to get a better look at the demigods (and satyr) standing behind me. 

She shook her head before looking at me.

"Gods, this is so weird," she muttered to me quietly.

"Really?" I said sarcastically.

She raised her eyebrows at me, "Someone's in a bad mood."

"I have had a really, really bad day," I said continuing to walk forward without looking at her.

"Tell me about it," she muttered.

Apparently our conversation had broken some of the tension surrounding the past demigods, because they started up quiet conversations of our own.

Annabeth turned around to the demigods before saying, 

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," she said, pausing a bit before continuing, "and as I am sure you already know, I'm from 2017."

"What is it like?" past Annabeth asked, "2017, I mean." 

Annabeth sighed though her nose before replying to her past self, "Really messed up." She didn't elaborate.

"Mars sent me over here to tell you about what you will be expecting when you go into the Throne Room-"

"Mars?" said Michael Yew, "As in the Roman counterpart of Ares, the god of war."

"There are no Romans, they died off long ago" Silena Beauregard told him.

"Actually," Annabeth corrected, "there are. The gods just have kept us apart because the last time we knew of each other it led to the American Civil War."

She let everyone take this in before continuing,

"When the gods moved to America, the Greeks set up camp here, in New York. The Romans on the other hand set up a camp near San Francisco, called Camp Jupiter. That's the reason we Greek demigods are warned not to go to San Francisco, and why the Romans are warned not to come to New York." Annabeth told them, "Now, I'm only telling you this because in the letter Chaos sent us it stated that we not only have to get all of the counselors of Camp Half-Blood, but we also have to get about five people from Camp Jupiter. We have already told them everything I have just told you. Oh, and it also said specifically that you are not allowed to fight with the Romans, and that if you do, there will be severe consequences, and since those punishments would be coming from Chaos, I would recommend listening." 

Everyone started to talking at the same time.

I whistled loudly. They shut up.

"Would you like to meet them or not?" I said.

\-----

Surprisingly, it turned out that I knew each of the Roman's that had come to hear the book. The two praetors were, though I had already expected this, Jason Grace and Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano. The Auger was, obviously, Octavian, who had no stuffed animals in sight, and the two centurions were Dakota and Gwendolyn. 

"Now, listen h-" Octavian's haughty first impression was interrupted.

"Jason," someone said in a strangled cry.

I turned around to see Thalia, with a hand on her chest. 

Jason took a step forward, as if in a trance. 

"Thalia?" he said.

"How... how are you alive. Mom took you and she... and she..." Thalia trailed off.

"And she gave me to Hera," Jason finished for her, "to 'appease' her. And then Hera gave me to Lupa, who trained me, and then I left her and went to Camp Jupiter. I've been there ever since. What happened to you?"

"I left," Thalia said breathlessly, "I ran away, lived on the streets for a few years with a couple other demigods before I made my way to Camp Half-Blood."

"How do you look so young?" Jason asked.

"Well, I was a tree for about six years before I was revived by the golden fleece and then I joined the Hunters of Artemis not long after, so I only really was at Camp Half-Blood for a few months." 

The Roman's just stared, utterly shocked.

"You were... a tree." Dakota said.

Thalia nodded, "For six years."

Past Annabeth cleared her throat, "We were over run with monsters, and Thalia sacrificed herself so that I, a saytr, and one other demigod could live. Zeus turned her into a tree to preserve her life force that has protected our camp's borders ever since."

"Hold on, back up," said Conner Stoll.

"You two know each other?" finished Travis Stoll, looking at Thalia and Jason.

"Yeah," Thalia answered, "Jason is my younger brother."

"You mean half-brother." Reyna said. 

"No, she means full brother." Jason said.

Past me whistled. "So Zeus broke the oath? Twice? With the same person?" Percy said.

"Technically, it was Jupiter the second time, not Zeus." I answered.

We both looked at each other.

The Romans looked at us.

"Alright," Dakota said, "there are two of them. Not weird at all."

"Your name is...?" Clarisse La Rue asked.

"I'm Dakota, son of Bacchus." Dakota said said.

The rest of the Romans went on to introduce themselves, as well as the Greeks. 

"We should head in." Annabeth said, "we will get the books started as soon as the others arrive."

"What others?" Castor asked.

"We are expecting five more. Three unclaimed demigods, one mortal and a soul."

"A soul?" Everyone said.

"The soul of Hazel Levesque." Annabeth said. 

\-----

A/N: Please review!!!


	7. Percy VII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

A/N: Three things. The first, I was reminded that Castor, son of Dionysus, was killed in the Battle of the Labyrinth, and therefore will not be in any future chapters for obvious reasons. The second is that some people were wondering if I was going to write the entire book, or just the Tartarus chapters. I will be writing (trying to) the entire book. Also, if you notice any information that I have gotten wrong or have left out (like how Castor had died, but I had forgotten, or if I forget to mention a character that you would like me to mention) please contact me. I haven't read the Heroes of Olympus since last March, and the Percy Jackson series since even before that, so it is likely that I will miss some information.

\-----

We entered the Throne Room, with me and Annabeth in the lead. We walked to the center of the room before I bowed, the other demigods following my lead.

"What an odd sight, Greeks and Romans, walking side by side." said Artemis.

"Lets get this over with." said Ares.

"What about the others?" I asked, "The other five people mentioned?"

The gods all nodded their heads or pointed to the corner of the room, behind us. There, standing quietly in the corner, were five figures. As we all looked over, they tried to hide in the shadows. One of them partially succeeded.

The one in the front cleared her throat. She had bright frizzy red hair, and a paint splattered shirt. She stepped forward.

"Um.. hi?" she said, making it more of a question than a statement, "I'm Rachel Dare, and I am a mortal."

She looked to the girl standing behind her, who had choppy brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes.

"I'm Piper Mclean, and according to them," Piper said, looking at the gods, "I am a demigod."

The third kid to step forward was a scrawny Latino boy, who reminded me a bit of an elf. I could have sworn that I saw a grease stain on his cheek.

"I am Leo Valdez, and I'm also a demigod."

The forth kid was a large Chinese dude. While he was large and built liked a football player, and probably would have been able to intimidate anyone, if his face hadn't ruined the image. It looked a bit like a baby's.

"My name is Frank Zhang, and, again, I'm a demigod." he said.

The last one was the most curious. It was difficult to discern her features, because I could see right through her to the wall right behind her.

"I'm Hazel Levesque," the ghost said, "and I am a soul from the Fields of Asphodel, but I was a demigod once, before I died in 1942, and I am a daughter of Pluto."

It was to her that everyone's curiosity was focused. After all, seeing a soul of a daughter of one of the Big Three who died in 1942 isn't something you see everyday.

"Alright," Hephaestus said, "let's get started."

\-----

As soon as Athena had grabbed the book from the box, another note had fallen out. She picked it up and read it out loud. It was short and to the point.

Dear Gods, Demigods, Satyr, and Mortal

I will remind you again only this once, you must read this book word for word, no skipping any parts. This rule will make more sense soon enough. You may all feel free to discuss the book at any time, in any way. In fact, I encourage it. This will help you all much more if you discuss. Also, Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase are not the only two people from the future that will be joining. The others will join you as the book progresses.

Sincerely, The Creator, Chaos

We all looked at each other, not really knowing what to say. And what did Chaos mean by "this rule will make more sense soon enough"? Why did we have to read it word for word, and why did Chaos emphasize how important it was.

Athena had opened the book and was about to start reading when Reyna stepped forward.

"Lord Jupiter, if I may," she said, looking at Zeus for permission to speak. When he nodded, she continued, "I was wondering if we could have some place to sit, because it would be a bit difficult for us to stand for the duration of this book." 

Of course, I thought. How did I not think of that. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that, based on everyone else's expressions.

Zeus nodded, before waving a hand and conjure several couches and chairs, along with a few coffee tables. We all sat down, there being just enough room for everyone.

I leaned forward, as did almost everyone else, and waited for the story to begin.

\-----

A/N: I am so, so sorry that this chapter is so short, but I want each chapter in the House of Hades to have its own chapter in this story. The next chapter should be longer. Please review!!!


	8. Annabeth VIII

Disclaimer: Not own Percy Jackson, all rights go to Rick Riordan

 **Bold Text**  is by Rick Riordan

A/N: A few people have reminded me that the Battle of the Labyrinth was published in 2007. I am aware of this. The reason why I am saying that Percy and Annabeth went back in time to 2014 is because of the fact that the House of Hades was published in 2013, six years after the Battle of the Labyrinth was published. Percy and Annabeth are only going back three years, not six. I made it so that they are from 2017 because I thought that it would be easier to identify with. If Percy and Annabeth were from 2013, and decided to go back to 2010, for everyone reading this it is 2017, so 2013  _is_  the past, and I would like for Percy and Annabeth to be going into the past from the present. Also, someone reminded me that Percy and Annabeth are 15, not 14, so I'm sorry for making that mistake. But since it is already written that they went back 3 years, not two, I am just going to leave it as it is. But thank you to those people who reminded me. It's appreciated.

 **"Hazel I,** " Athena started.

Hazel paled. Well, she seemed to pale. It's hard to tell with someone when you can see right through them to the wall behind her head.

**"During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder. She was peering into the fog... when the alarm bells sounded.**

**'Hard to port!' Nico yelled from the foremast...**

"Where  _is_ Nico?" I said. "He is in the book, he should be here."

"Well..." Athena started, "Chaos just said that we had to have these people here," she gestured to the demigods, "but the note never said anything about not being able to bring in additional people."

Hades snapped his fingers.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly there was a very confused looking, younger version of Nico di Angelo.

Percy stood up, and pulled him of to the side, explaining.

**...Leo yanked the wheel. The Argo II veered left."**

"Wait, wait, wait." Conner said.

"Hold you centaurs." Travis continued. "What the hel-"

"Hades," Conner interrupted, "has happened so far?"

 _Percy_  looked at me, obviously thinking that I should be the one to explain.

I stood up. "After the Second Titan War (we won, by the way), our Oracle of Delphi gave us a prophecy.

_Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call,_

_to Storm or Fire the world must fall_ -

_"An oath to keep with the final breath,_

_and foes bear arms at the Doors of Death."_  Reyna finished for me. "We've had that prophecy for a while now."

I felt my eyebrows raised as I nodded, before continuing my story. "Yes, that prophecy. About two months after the War ended, both Percy and Jason disappeared. _Hera_ ," I glared accusingly at her. She seemed to shrink back a bit at first before sitting forward and glaring back, "sensing trouble, had the  _brilliant_  idea of introducing the two demigod camps to each other. Her way of doing that was kidnapping the two people whom the camps saw as leaders," I gestured to Percy and Jason, "them having been the ones to stop Kiros and Kronos, wipe there memories, and put them in opposite camps. Jason was the first one to appear, with two unclaimed demigods - Piper Mclean and Leo Valdez. Long story short, Jason, Piper, and Leo went on a quest to free Hera, who had been kidnapped by a Giant. Percy appeared four months later with Lupa. He trained with her before arriving at Camp Jupiter two months later. Another long story short, he went on a quest with Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque-"

"Hazels dead." Octavian stated pompously.

"Percy went on a quest with Hazel and Frank," I continued, ignoring him, "to free Thantos. Souls had recently been freed, people had come back to life like Medas, Medea, and  _Hazel_ ," I said, answering his statement, "the only difference being that Medas and Medea, and many others, had been brought back by Gaea, unlike Hazel, who was brought back by her brother, Nico di Angelo." Everyone looked over at Nico, who had blushed under the attention.

"I joined them when they returned, along with Jason, Piper, and Leo, on the Argo II, a flying ship that was built for this quest. Together we make up the Seven of the prophecy. After that we began to head to Greece, because Gaea is planning on awakening there. We were in Rome when... well, I am sure the book will tell."

I gestured to my mother to continue.

Athena cleared her throat.

**"The Argo II veered left. Hazel made the mistake of looking over the rail... _Why is the moon coming at us?..._ she yelped and hit the deck. The huge rock passed so close overhead it blew her hair out of her face.**

**_CRACK!_ **

**The foremast collapsed... Nico crashing to the deck."**

Young Nico winced.

**"The boulder... tumbled off into the fog...**

**'Nico!' Hazel scrambled over to him...**

**'I'm fine,' Nico muttered..."**

Nico scrunched his eyebrows, surprised that someone cared that much about him. He hadn't let anyone since Bianca had...

**...She helped him up, and they stumbled to the bow. Hazel peered over more carefully this time. The clouds parted just enough to reveal the top of the mountains be low them: a spearhead of black rock jutting from mossy green slopes. Standing at the summit was a mountain god -one of the _numina montanum,_ Jason had called them. Or  _ourae_ , in Greek...**

**Like the others they had faced, this one wore a simple white tunic over skin as rough and dark as basalt. He was about twenty feet tall and extremely muscular...**

**The scene disappeared into the fog...**

**'Stupid rock gods,' Leo yelled from the helm. 'That's the _third_  time I've had to replace that mast! You think they grow on trees?'"**

"Masts  _are_  from trees," Nico said, frowning.

**Nico frowned. "Masts _are_ from trees."**

Everyone chuckled, amused at the similarities, while Nico blushed.

**"'That's not the point!' Leo snatched up one of his controls, rigged from a Nintendo Wii stick, and spun it in a circle. A few feet away... A Celestial bronze cannon rose."**

"Cool!" a few people said, Beckendorf had gotten out some paper (from where, I don't know) and already was sketching out some plans.

**Hazel just had enough time to cover her ears before it discharged into the sky...**

**A moment later, a series of explosions crackled across the mountains...**

**"Ha," Leo yelled...**

**Another boulder whistled through the air...**

**Nico yelled, 'Get us out of here!'...**

**Hazel didn't relax until they were out of the mountains."**

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Was it really like that?" asked Silena

"We assume so,"  _Percy_  claimed, "we, ah, we weren't exactly here for this."

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"I'm sure it will come up in the book soon." I said, trying to block out the memories by curling into Percy's side.

Poseidon gave us a weird look while Athena, looking at us, seemed to be trying to figure out some puzzle.  _They don't know we're dating_ , I realized.

**"Hazel didn't relax until they were out of the mountains... Below them, morning sunlight illuminated the Italian countryside... Hazel could almost imagine she was sailing home to Camp Jupiter.**

**The thought weighed on her chest. Camp Jupiter had only been her home for nine months, since Nico had brought her back from the Underworld. But she missed it more than her birth place of New Orleans, and definitely more then Alaska, where she had died back in 1942."**

"You lived in Alaska?" asked Hermes, "Outside of the gods domain?"

"My mom hated the gods," said Hazel quietly, "She though being in Alaska would be better. It wasn't."

A few people looked a bit disturbed at this

**...she wanted to feel safe. She was tired of being scared and worried all of the time...**

**'Well, that was sucktastic.' Leo said. 'Should I wake the others?'**

**Hazel was tempted to say yes, but the other crew members had taken the night shift and had earned there rest...**

**A few weeks ago, Hazel wouldn't have believed that anyone could sleep through a _numina_  attack, but now she imagined her friends were snoring away below decks. Whenever  _she_ got the chance to crash, she slept like a coma patient.**

**"They need rest." she said. "We'll have to figure this out another way on our own.'**

**'Huh.' Leo scowled at his monitor. In his tattered work shirt and grease splattered jeans, he looked like he'd just lost a wrestling match with a locomotive.**

**Ever since their friends Percy and Annabeth...**

Everyone sat up, listening attentively.

**"... had fallen into Tartarus-"**

"What!?" Everyone exclaimed, Athena even interrupting herself.

A/N: Sorry, but this is only halfway through  **Hazel I.**  I'll finish the rest in the next chapter. Please comment!

 

 

 


	9. Percy IX

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus series

A/N: When reading the book, the "..." are there to show where word are in the book that I haven't written in this. I'm just writing down the gist of the House of Hades, I'm not re-typing the entire book. I'm just writing down enough for it to make sense of what is in the House of Hades.

\-----

**_Ever since their friends Percy and Annabeth..._ **

_Everyone sat up, listening attentively._

**_"... had fallen into Tartarus-_ **

_"What!?" Everyone exclaimed, Athena even interrupting herself._

_\-----_

"You fell in-!?" Michael said.

"How are you-!?" exclaimed Grover.

"Alive!?" Everyone asked.

 _Annabeth_ and I looked at each other.

"Honestly," Annabeth started.

"We have no idea." I finished.

There was a silence before Apollo spoke up.

"You were in there still," he said, "but Chaos pulled you out, right? And brought you here"

"One second we were fighting some  _arai_ , the next I see this flash of light, and then I wake up in your infirmary." I said. "Why Chaos chose to do it, we have no idea. Maybe Chaos decided to have mercy on us?"

 _"Arai,_ are curse spirits, and Apollo and Asclepius said that you were poised with gorgons blood, but that it was a miracle how fast you recovered. That's because you weren't poisoned with gorgons blood. You poisoned someone else with gorgons blood and they cursed you with the same fate, so when you killed the  _arai_..." Athena reasoned.

I nodded. "What we don't know is why Chaos chose to do it, we have no idea. Maybe Chaos decided to have mercy on us?"

"What else happened down there?" Frank said, speaking for the first time since he had introduced himself.

 _Annabeth_  and I looked at each other, before looking down.

"We would rather not talk about it." she said.

We looked at Athena, silently asking her to continue the book.

**"Ever since there friends, Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus, Leo had been working almost nonstop. He'd been angrier and even more driven than usual.**

**Hazel worried about him. But a part of her was relieved by the change. When ever Leo smiled and joked, he looked too much like Sammy, his great-grandfather... Hazel's first boyfriend, back in 1942."**

Everyone turned to look at Hazel. She was looking utterly shocked. She turned to Leo and said,

"Sammy was you great-grandfather?"

"I...," Leo started, "I have no idea. I mean I don't know who my great-grandfather was. I think my grandfathers name was Sammy Jr., which would mean that there had to be a Sammy Sr., which who was probably a kid around 1942, and who would probably be my great-grandfather..." he trailed off. "Wait a second," he shot out of his seat, looking directly at Hazel for the first time, "you dated my great-grandfather?!"

Hazel shrunk back, "I guess?" She laughed nervously.

"Lets just get back to the book." I said.

Hazel shot me a grateful look.

**"...'It's our fault,' Hazel said. 'Nico's and mine. The _numina_  can sense us.'**

**She glanced at her half-brother. Since they'd rescued him from the giants-"**

"I was kidnapped by giants!' Nico shouted.

"Long story." Annabeth and I chorused.

**"** **Since they'd rescued him from the giants, he'd started to regain his strength, but he was still painfully thin. His black shirt and jeans hung off his skeletal frame, Long dark hair framed his sunken eyes. His olive complexion had turned a sickly greenish white, like the color of tree sap"**

Nico winced.

**"In human years, he was barely fourteen, just a year older than Hazel, but that didn't tell the whole story. Like Hazel, Nico di Angelo was from another era. He radiated the same kind of old energy -a melancholy that came from knowing that he didn't belong in the modern world...**

**Nico gripped the hilt of his Stygian iron sword. "Earth spirits don't like children of the** **Underworld. That's true. We get under their skin— literally But I think the numina could sense this ship anyway. We're carrying the Athena Parthenos. That thing is like a magical beacon."**

 

"The Athena Parthenos?" Everyone asked.

Athena looked shocked.

 _Annabeth_  looked at her before saying, "I followed the Mark of Athena," she paused, and her mother looked like she was about to bow down to apologizing, but  _Annabeth_  continued before she could, "And I succeeded. The cavern where Archane was living had collapsed. The rest of the Seven were securing the Athena Parthenos when I realized that my leg was caught in a cobweb that pulled me down to Tartarus. Percy didn't let me fall alone."

She glared at everyone, daring them to say something. They were all to busy sitting in shocked silence to notice.

**"Hazel shivered, thinking of the massive statue that took up most of the hold. They'd sacrificed so much saving it from the cavern under Rome; but they had no idea what to do with it. So far the only thing it seemed to be good for was alerting more monsters to their presence.**

**Leo traced his finger down the map of Italy. "So crossing the mountains is out. Thing is, they go along way in either direction."**

**"We could go by sea," Hazel suggested. "Sail around the southern tip of Italy."**   
**"That's a long way," Nico said. "Plus, we don't have..." His voice cracked. "You know...our** **sea expert, Percy."**

**The name hung in the air like an impending storm.**

**Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon...probably the demigod Hazel admired most. "**

 

I blushed

**He'd saved her life so many times on their quest to Alaska; but when he had needed Hazel's help in Rome, she'd failed him. She'd watched, powerless, as he and Annabeth had plunged into that pit.**

I started to shake my head wanting to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but Hazel wasn't here.

**Hazel took a deep breath. Percy and Annabeth were still alive. She knew that in her heart. She** **could still help them if she could get to the House of Hades, if she could survive the challenge Nico had warned her about....** **  
**

**"What about continuing north?" she asked. "There has to be a break in the mountains, or something."**

**Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he'd installed on the console—his newest** **and most dangerous toy..."**

 

Beckendorf nearly fell out of his chair when he heard that.

**"..."I dunno." Leo examined the hologram. "I don't see any good passes to the north. But I like that idea better than backtracking south. I'm done with Rome."**

**No one argued with that. Rome had not been a good experience.** **  
**

**"Whatever we do," Nico said, "we have to hurry. Ever** **y day that Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus..."**

Everyone winced. Nobody noticed the look in Annabeth's eyes, which most likely mirrored my own. Absolute terror.

**"He didn't need to finish. They had to hope Percy and Annabeth could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. Then, assuming the Argo II could reach the House of Hades, they might be able to open the Doors on the mortal side, save their friends, and seal the entrance, stopping Gaea's forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world over and over."**

 

I think everyone was just starting to realize how bad it really was.

**"Yes...nothing could go wrong with that plan.**

**Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. "Maybe we should wake the others. This decision affects us all."**

**"No," Hazel said. "We can find a solution."** **  
**

**She wasn't sure why she felt so strongly about it, but since leaving Rome, the crew had started to lose its cohesion. They'd been learning to work as a team. Then bam ...their two most important members fell into Tartarus. Percy had been their backbone. He'd given them confidence as they sailed across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. As for Annabeth—she'd been the de facto leader of the quest. She'd recovered the Athena Parthenos single-handedly. She was the smartest of the seven, the one with the answers."**

 

This time Annabeth blushed along with me.

**"If Hazel woke up the rest of the crew every time they had a problem, they'd just start arguing** **again, feeling more and more hopeless. She had to make Percy and Annabeth proud of her. She had to take the initiative-"**

Athena was interrupted by a knock at the door.

We all looked at each other. Everyone that Chaos had asked for was here, and no one comes onto Olympus and knocks on the Throne Room door, especially because Zeus had announced that the Olympians were in a meeting and were to not be disturbed. After a few seconds we all pulled out our weapons aiming them at the door.

Zeus gestured to Hermes, who was the closet Olympian to the door, to open it.

A girl, around 14, with chocolate colored skin, frizzy brown hair, and who was definitely not transparent walked in.

_"Hazel?!"_

_\-----_


	10. Annabeth X

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

A/N: IMPORTANT. I will most likely not be able to update every day. I will still be updating several times a week, though.

\-----

_Athena was interrupted by a knock at the door._

_Zeus gestured to Hermes, who was the closet Olympian to the door, to open it._

_A girl, around 14, with chocolate colored skin, frizzy brown hair, and who was definitely not transparent walked in._

_\-----_

_"Hazel?!"_   _Percy_ and I said together. We both ran up to her, asking what happened

 _Hazel_ looked around wide eyed.

"I was... I was having  a dream," she stammered, "something about Pasiphae... and then there was a flash of light, and then I was here, and... and..." she paused, before looking at both of us, and then looking at everyone else. "What is going on?" She suddenly took a step back, having seen younger versions of the seven.

"We're in the past, 2014," Isaid, "Chaos sent us here. Something about making the wars 'less drastic'?"

"And that's..." she trailed off, pointing at her younger soul-self.

 _Percy_ and I nodded.

Hades spoke from where he was sitting in the corner, "How are you alive."

It wasn't a question, so much as it was an order.

"I was brought back to life. In 2017, the Doors of Death are open, and Thantos was kidnapped. He has been rescued, but before he was there were a lot of escaped souls from the Underworld. What's happened so far?" That last question was directed at me and  _Percy._

I caught her up on what had happened since we got here. Athena soon started again.

**She had to make Percy and Annabeth proud of her. She had to take the initiative. She couldn't** **believe her only role in this quest would be what Nico had warned her of—removing the obstacle** **waiting for them in the House of Hades. She pushed the thought** **aside.**

I looked at  _Hazel._  She seemed very determined not to return the look, so I put a hand on her shoulder. When her eyes met mine, I smiled. She smiled back.

**"We need some creative thinking," she said. "Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to** **hide ourselves from the** **numina** **."**

**Nico sighed. "If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But that won't work for an entire ship.** **And honestly, I'm not sure I have the strength to even transport** **myself** **anymore."**

 

"What happened?" Hades said, directing the question at  _Hazel, Percy_  and myself. "The book mentioned before that he looked sick, and now it says that he can't do shadow travel anymore, so what happened."

The three of us looked at each other.  _Percy_ and  _Hazel_  looked at me, silently ordering me to answer the question.

"Nico was kidnapped by twin giants, and spent some time living in a jar with only pomegranate seeds from the Underworld to eat. That's what kept him alive in the jar, because the jar had very little oxygen." 

Everyone looked horrified, while Nico became so pale I could have sworn that I could see the wall right behind him.

 

**"I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," Leo said, "like a smoke screen to hide us in the** **clouds."**

"Cool." Beckendorf muttered to himself.

**He didn't sound very enthusiastic.**

**Hazel stared down at the rolling farmland, thinking about what lay beneath it—the realm of her** **father, lord of the Underworld. She'd only met Pluto once, and she hadn't even realized who he was.** **She certainly had never expected help from him—not when she was alive the first time, not during her** **time as a spirit in the Underworld, not since Nico had brought her back to the world of the living.**

 

Everyone glared at Hades. He glared right back. 

"I'm one of the gods who helps out there kids the most. If I wasn't helping Hazel, I sure that there is a very reasonable explanation."

**Her dad's servant Thanatos, god of death, had suggested that Pluto might be doing Hazel a favor** **by ignoring her. After all, she wasn't supposed to be alive. If Pluto took notice of her, he might have** **to return her to the land of the dead.**

**Which meant calling on Pluto would be a very bad idea.**

Hades gave everyone a look, clearly saying I told you so. But I could have sworn that I saw pain and worry flicker on his face. But it was gone so fast that I could have just imagined it.

**And yet...** **_Please, Dad,_ ** **she found herself praying.** _**I** **have** **to find a way** **to your temple in Greece—the** **House of Hades. If you're down** **there, show me what to do.** _

**At the edge of the horizon, a flicker of movement caught her eye—something small and beige** **racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane's.**

 

 _Percy_ and I shot up. 

"Is that...?"  _Percy_ asked  _Hazel_

 _Hazel_  grinned and nodded.

"Is that who?" asked Piper.

We waved her off, gesturing for Athena to continue.

**Hazel couldn't believe it. She didn't dare hope, but it** **had** **to be..."Arion."**

**"What?" Nico asked.** **  
**

**Leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer. "It's her horse, man! You missed that** **whole part. We haven't seen him since Kansas!"**

"A horse?" Several people muttered.

The three of us grinned at each other.

**Hazel laughed—the first time she'd laughed in days. It felt so good to see her old friend.** **  
**

**About a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was** **difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the** **Argo II.** **Hazel had no doubt—it was Arion.**

"Arion is said to be a horse that can run faster than the wind." My past self said. "And, according to the stories, Arion was also a son of Poseidon," She nudged Percy, who was sitting right next to her, "making him your half-brother." Percy grinned back at her.

 _How were we so oblivious?_ I thought. I looked over at Percy, who grinned at me, apparently thinking the same thing. He grabbed my hand, angling us so no one could see.

**"We have to meet him," she said. "He's here to help."** **  
**

**"Yeah, okay." Leo scratched his head. "But, uh, we talked about not landing the ship on the** **ground anymore, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us and all."**

**"Just get me close, and I'll use the rope ladder." Hazel's heart was pounding. "I think Arion** **wants to tell me something."**

 

"That's the end of the chapter." Athena said.

\-----


	11. Annabeth XI

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson Series, all rights go to Rick Riordan

\-----

"Who wants to read next?" Athena asked.

"I will." said Artemis.

Athena got up and handed the book to her.

Artemis cleared her throat before starting.

**"Hazel had never felt so happy. Well, except for maybe on the night of the victory feast at Camp Jupiter, when she'd kissed Frank for the first time...but this was a close second.**

Hazel blushed.

**As soon as she reached the ground, she ran to Arion and threw her arms around him. "I missed you!" She pressed her face into the horse's warm neck, which smelled of sea salt and apples. "Where have you been?"**

**Arion nickered. Hazel wished she could speak Horse like Percy could, but she got the general** **idea. Arion sounded impatient, as if saying, _No time for sentiment, girl! Come on!_**

 

"That is probably exactly what he was saying." said Percy.

**"You want me to go with you?" she guessed.**

**Arion bobbed his head, trotting in place. His dark brown eyes gleamed with urgency.** **  
**

**Hazel still couldn't believe he was actually here. He could run across any surface, even the sea...**

"Cool." said Michael.

**...but she'd been afraid he wouldn't follow them into the ancient lands.**

**The Mediterranean was too dangerous for demigods and their allies.**

"True." Percy, Hazel, and I all said together.

**He wouldn't have come unless Hazel was in dire need. And he seemed so agitated.... Anything** **that could make a fearless horse skittish should have terrified Hazel.** **  
**

**Instead, she felt elated. She was** **so** **tired of being seasick and airsick. Aboard the** **Argo II** **, she** **felt about as useful as a box of ballast. She was glad to be back on solid ground, even if it** **was** **Gaea's** **territory. She was ready to ride.**

I looked over to Hazel indeed looked eager to ride as the book said.  _Odd_ , I thought.

**"Hazel!" Nico called down from the ship. "What's going on?"** **  
**

**"It's fine!" She crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth.**

"Hold on, what?" Apollo asked.

"Um... I can pull precious metals from the Earth," Hazel said, "it's one of the abilities I got from my father."

She then asked Artemis to continue.

**She was getting** **better at controlling her power. Precious stones hardly ever popped up around her by accident** **anymore, and pulling gold from the ground was easy.**

**She fed Arion the nugget...his favorite snack.**

"Your horse eats gold?" Reyna said, raising her eyebrows.

Hazel nodded.

"Of course he does," Reyna muttered quietly, shocked.

**Then she smiled up at Leo and Nico, who were** **watching her from the top of the ladder a hundred feet above. "Arion wants to take me somewhere."**

**"Uh..." Leo pointed north. "Please tell me he's not taking you into** **_that_ ** **?"**

"Into what?"Several people asked.

**Hazel had been so focused on Arion, she hadn't noticed the disturbance. A mile away, on the** **crest of the next hill, a storm had gathered over some old stone ruins—maybe the remains of a Roman** **temple or a fortress. A funnel cloud snaked its way down toward the hill like an inky black finger.**

 

A few people looked over to Hazel, pitying her. Hazel glared back, daring them to say anything out loud. I was shocked. Hazel never glared at anyone.

**Hazel's mouth tasted like blood. She looked at Arion. "You want to go** **there** **?"**

**Arion whinnied, as if to say,** **_Uh, duh!_ ** **_  
_ **

"Your horse is rude." Pollux said

Some people nodded, agreeing with him

"You have no idea." Percy muttered under his breath, quietly enough that I was the only person that heard him.

**Well...Hazel had asked for help. Was this her dad's answer?**

Hazel shook her head, as if telling herself that it wasn't.

**She hoped so, but she sensed something besides Pluto at work in that storm...something dark,** **powerful, and not necessarily friendly.** **  
**

**Still, this was her chance to help her friends—to lead instead of follow.**

"You are a leader Hazel," I told her quietly. "You lead without having to stand and tell people what to do. People trust, and listen to you."

**She tightened the straps of her Imperial gold cavalry sword and climbed onto Arion's back.** **  
**

**"I'll be okay!" she called up to Nico and Leo. "Stay put and wait for me."**

**"Wait for how long?" Nico asked. "What if you don't come back?"** **  
**

**"Don't worry, I will," she promised, hoping it was true.**

**She spurred Arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing** **tornado.**

 

"That is the end of the chapter." Artemis said.


	12. Percy XII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, all rights go to Rick Riordan

A/N: I am thinking of starting a new story of Percy Jackson one-shots/crossovers, but I need some idea's/prompts. If you could give me some I would highly appreciate it!!

\-----

"I'll keep reading." Artemis said

**THE STORM SWALLOWED THE HILL** **in a swirling cone of black vapor.** **  
**

"What is it?" Beckendorf said

**Arion charged straight into it.**

"Smart." Clarisse said sarcastically.

**Hazel found herself at the summit, but it felt like a different dimension. The world lost its color.** **The walls of the storm encircled the hill in murky black. The sky churned gray. The crumbling ruins** **were bleached so white, they almost glowed. Even Arion had turned from caramel brown to a dark** **shade of ash.** **  
**

"Cool!" Travis said. Everyone turned around to look at him.

"What?" he said.

"Sereiously?" Connor said, eyebrows raised.

Everyone rolled there eyes, chuckling under there breath.

**In the eye of the tempest, the air was still. Hazel's skin tingled coolly, as if she'd been rubbed** **with alcohol. In front of her, an arched gateway led through mossy walls into some sort of enclosure.**

**Hazel couldn't see much through the gloom, but she felt a presence within, as if she were a chunk** **of iron close to a large magnet. Its pull was irresistible, dragging her forward.** **  
**

Everyone sucked in a breath.

**Yet she hesitated. She reined in Arion, and he clopped impatiently, the ground crackling under** **his hooves. Wherever he stepped, the grass, dirt, and stones turned white like frost. Hazel** **remembered the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska—how the surface had cracked under their feet. She** **remembered the floor of that horrible cavern in Rome crumbling to dust, plunging Percy and Annabeth** **into Tartarus.**

Annabeth discreetly grabbed my hand, and we scooted closer together so that no one could see.

**She hoped this black-and-white hilltop wouldn't dissolve under her, but she decided it was best** **to keep moving.** **  
**

**"Let's go, then, boy." Her voice sounded muffled, as if she were speaking into a pillow.**

**Arion trotted through the stone archway. Ruined walls bordered a square courtyard about the** **size of a tennis court. Three other gateways, one in the middle of each wall, led north, east, and west.** **In the center of the yard, two cobblestone paths intersected, making a cross. Mist hung in the air—** **hazy shreds of white that coiled and undulated as if they were alive.**

**Not mist, Hazel realized.** **_The Mist._ **

"Wait," younger Annabeth said, "you can actually see the mist. I always thought that it was just a term for some invisible force, like the boundaries that guard Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah, you can see it," Hazel replied, "it's rare to see it, but when you are around the right... person you can see it."

Younger Annabeth nodded, processing this information.

**All her life, she'd heard about the Mist—the supernatural veil that obscured the world of myth** **from the sight of mortals. It could deceive humans, even demigods, into seeing monsters as harmless** **animals, or gods as regular people.**

**Hazel had never thought of it as actual smoke, but as she watched it curling around Arion's legs,** **floating through the broken arches of the ruined courtyard, the hairs stood up on her arms. Somehow** **she knew: this white stuff was pure magic.** **In the distance, a dog howled. Arion wasn't usually scared of anything, but he reared, huffing** **nervously.** **  
**

"Alright, now that's creepy." Dakota said.

**"It's okay." Hazel stroked his neck. "We're in this together. I'm going to get down, all right?"**

**She slid off Arion's back. Instantly he turned and ran.** **  
**

**"Arion, wai—"**

**But he'd already disappeared the way he'd come.** **  
**

"Wow, such bravery." Rachel said sarcastically.

**So much for being in this together.**

**Another howl cut through the air—closer this time.** **  
**

**Hazel stepped toward the center of the courtyard. The Mist clung to her like freezer fog.**

**"Hello?" she called.** **  
**

**"Hello," a voice answered.**

Everyone sat up in there seats, listening intently.

**The pale figure of a woman appeared at the northern gateway. No, wait...she stood at the eastern** **entrance. No, the western.** **Three** **smoky images of the same woman moved in unison toward the center** **of the ruins. Her form was blurred, made from Mist, and she was trailed by two smaller wisps of** **smoke, darting at her heels like animals. Some sort of pets?** **  
**

"What in Hades?!" several people exlaimed.

Hades glared at everyone.

**She reached the center of the courtyard and her three forms merged into one. She solidified into a** **young woman in a dark sleeveless gown. Her golden hair was gathered into a high-set ponytail,** **Ancient Greek style. Her dress was so silky, it seemed to ripple, as if the cloth were ink spilling off** **her shoulders. She looked no more than twenty, but Hazel knew that meant nothing.**

**"Hazel Levesque," said the woman.** **  
**

**She was beautiful, but deathly pale. Once, back in New Orleans, Hazel had been forced to attend** **a wake for a dead classmate. She remembered the lifeless body of the young girl in the open casket.** **Her face had been made up prettily, as if she were resting, which Hazel had found terrifying.**

**This woman reminded Hazel of that girl—except the woman's eyes were open and completely** **black. When she tilted her head, she seemed to break into three different people again...misty** **afterimages blurring together, like a photograph of someone moving too fast to capture.** **  
**

"Yup, this is really creepy." Dakota said, paling.

**"Who are you?" Hazel's fingers twitched at the hilt of her sword. "I mean...which goddess?"**

**Hazel was sure of that much. This woman radiated power. Everything around them—the swirling** **Mist, the monochromatic storm, the eerie glow of the ruins—was because of her presence.** **  
**

**"Ah." The woman nodded. "Let me give you some light."**

**She raised her hands. Suddenly she was holding two old-fashioned reed torches, guttering with** **fire. The Mist receded to the edges of the courtyard. At the woman's sandaled feet, the two wispy** **animals took on solid form. One was a black Labrador retriever. The other was a long, gray, furry** **rodent with a white mask around its face. A weasel, maybe.**

"Hecate." young Annabeth stated.

Athena looked at her daughter proudly.

**The woman smiled serenely.**

**"I am Hecate," she said. "Goddess of magic. We have much to discuss if you're to live through** **tonight."**

"And that is the end of the third chapter." Artemis said. "Who wants to re-"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door.

\-----

A/N: Please comment!!!


	13. Percy XIII

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, all rights go to Rick Riordan

A/N: I am so, so, so, so, so sorry!! I have not updated for weeks. I have been so busy with school and finals, that this seemed at the bottom of my priority list. I will try to update more often from now on. 

\-----

We all turned towards the door, as it opened. 

"Leo!" Hazel, Annabeth, and I all shouted, standing up and running over.

"Hi?!" He said looking absolutely confused. He the turned to me and Annabeth. His eyes widened. 

"Your okay!?" He exclaimed, looking even more confused. "What is going on, how are you alive? What happened? Why are we on Olympus?" He said, spouting out questions.

We quickly caught him up on everything, before sitting down and asking Athena to continue reading.

**HAZEL WANTED TO RUN, but her feet seemed to be stuck to the white-glazed ground.**

**On either side of the crossroads, two dark metal torch-stands erupted from the dirt like plant stalks.Hecate fixed her torches in them, then walked a slow circle around Hazel, regarding her as if theywere partners in some eerie dance.**

**The black dog and the weasel followed in her wake.**

**'You are like your mother,' Hecate decided.**

Everyone looked at Hazel in confusion, who ducked her head at the attention.

**Hazel's throat constricted. 'You knew her?'**

**'Of course. Marie was a fortune-teller. She dealt in charms and curses and gris-gris. I am thegoddess of magic.'**

Some people raised there eyebrows at this relevation.

**Those pure black eyes seemed to pull at Hazel, as if trying to extract her soul. During her firstlifetime in New Orleans, Hazel had been tormented by the kids at St Agnes School because of hermother. They'd called Marie Levesque a witch. The nuns had muttered that Hazel's mother wastrading with the Devil.**

**If the nuns were scared of my mom, Hazel wondered, what would they make of this goddess?**

**'Many fear me,' Hecate said, as if reading her thoughts. 'But magic is neither good nor evil. It is atool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.'**

**'My – my mother ...' Hazel stammered. 'She didn't believe in magic. Not really. She was justfaking it, for the money.'**

Hades shook his head in the background.

**The weasel chittered and bared its teeth. Then it made a squeaking sound from its back end.**

A few of the younger demigods laughed.

**Underother circumstances, a weasel passing gas might have been funny, but Hazel didn't laugh. Therodent's red eyes glared at her balefully, like tiny coals.**

**'Peace, Gale,' said Hecate. She gave Hazel an apologetic shrug. 'Gale does not like hearing aboutnonbelievers and con artists. She herself was once a witch, you see.'**

**'Your weasel was a witch?'**

"Okay, now I'm confused." Younger Leo said. A few people laughed, appreciating the attempt to lighten the mood.

**'She's a polecat, actually,' Hecate said. 'But, yes – Gale was once a disagreeable human witch.She had terrible personal hygiene, plus extreme – ah, digestive issues.'** **Hecate waved her hand infront of her nose. 'It gave my other followers a bad name.'**

Several people chuckled at this.

**'Okay.' Hazel tried not to look at the weasel. She really didn't want to know about the rodent'sintestinal problems.'**

**At any rate,' Hecate said, 'I turned her into a polecat. She's much better as a polecat.'**

**Hazel swallowed. She looked at the black dog, which was affectionately nuzzling the goddess'shand. 'And your Labrador ...?'**

**'Oh, she's Hecuba, the former queen of Troy,' Hecate said, as if that should be obvious.**

Dakota, who had been drinking some cool-aid, seemed to choke and spit it all over Gwen at hearing this. 

Everyone laughed, while Dakota began apologizing profusely.

**The dog grunted.**

**'You're right, Hecuba,' the goddess said. 'We don't have time for long introductions. The point is,Hazel Levesque, your mother may have claimed not to believe, but she had true magic. Eventually,she realized this. When she searched for a spell to summon the god Pluto, I helped her find it.'**

**'You ...?'**

**'Yes.' Hecate continued circling Hazel. 'I saw potential in your mother. I see even more potentialin you.'**

Everyone had there eyes on Hazel now. After all, not just everyone could catch the attention of the Goddess of Magic.

**Hazel's head spun. She remembered her mother's confession just before she had died: how she'd summoned Pluto, how the god had fallen in love with her and how, because of her greedy wish, her daughter Hazel had been born with a curse. Hazel could summon riches from the earth, but anyone who used them would suffer and die.**

A few people scooted away from Hazel. Both the past and present version. 

I put my arm around her shoulders when I saw the look of hurt in her eyes. She look at me gratefully. 

Both Leo and Annabeth glared at the people who had moved, and I honestly felt a bit bad for anyone at the mercy of their wrath.

**Now this goddess was saying that she had made all that happen.**

**'My mother suffered because of that magic. My whole life –' '**

**Your life wouldn't have happened without me,' Hecate said flatly. 'I have no time for your anger. Neither do you. Without my help, you will die.'**

**The black dog snarled. The polecat snapped its teeth and passed gas.**

This was awarded with a few more chuckles.

**Hazel felt like her lungs were filling with hot sand.**

**'What kind of help?' she demanded.**

**Hecate raised her pale arms. The three gateways she'd come from – north, east and west – began to swirl with Mist. A flurry of black-and-white images glowed and flickered, like the old silent movies that were still playing in theatres when Hazel was small.**

**In the western doorway, Roman and Greek demigods in full armour fought one another on a hillside under a large pine tree. The grass was strewn with the wounded and the dying. Hazel saw herself riding Arion, charging through the melee and shouting – trying to stop the violence.**

Everyone seemed to pale at this description.

**In the gateway to the east, Hazel saw the Argo II plunging through the sky above the Apennines. Its rigging was in flames. A boulder smashed into the quarterdeck. Another punched through the hull. The ship burst like a rotten pumpkin, and the engine exploded.**

At this, people look at the four demigod from the future with a mixture of horror and pity.

**The images in the northern doorway were even worse. Hazel saw Leo, unconscious – or dead – falling through the clouds. She saw Frank staggering alone down a dark tunnel, clutching his arm, his shirt soaked in blood. And Hazel saw herself in a vast cavern filled with strands of light like a luminous web. She was struggling to break through while, in the distance, Percy and Annabeth lay sprawled and unmoving at the foot of two black-and-silver metal doors.**

No one seemed to know what to think, for it was obvious to them that any outcome would end in disaster.

**'Choices,' said Hecate. 'You stand at the crossroads, Hazel Levesque. And I am the goddess of crossroads.'**


	14. Annabeth XIV

Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan

A/N:  ** _IMPORTANT_** \- I am sorry that I haven't updated in a while. It isn't because I haven't had much time, but because, (if i'm being honest)  **I have absolutely no motivation when it comes to writing this story.** That being said, I know how frustrating it is to find a fanfiction that you like and then suddenly the author just stops writing it. So, **_I WILL BE CONTINUING_**  with this story.  **But, if there is anyone who likes this story a lot, and will continue it for me, please contact me**. I will not be handing this story to just anyone, as I have worked really hard on it, but if someone who has written fanfiction's before who I believe can continue this the way it should be continued, feel free to contact me. My requirements aren't strict by any means, all I really want to know is if the person knows how to write well. If it does get adopted, I will post on here who is writing it.

For anyone interested, here is my list of requirements:

-It has to be called "The Unexpected (reading HoH) continued

-You must post it on Wattpad, Fanfiction.com , and Archive of our own, as I have.

Shouldn't be too hard, right?

\-----

"Alright, I think that we should take a break" Athena stated, shutting the book with an audible snap.

I sighed, relieved. I know, I know, it's an odd thing for me to think, but I know that there has to be some chapter on Percy and me in Tartarus, and I am not ready to hear that yet.

The gods had shrunk down to our size, and were now conversing with the other demigods on the ground.

"Thank the gods." Someone said from behind me.

I turned around to see Percy standing right next to me.

"As much as I love reading, i'm not sure I could have stood listening to another page." I said. "I was terrified there was going to be something about us."

"Same." Percy said.

"That sucked." Hazel said, Leo standing next to her.

"Thank the gods I haven't had a chapter about me yet." Leo said.

"Imagine how I felt!" Hazel exlaimed

"You probably will eventually," I said to Leo, "in fact, we all probably will have something from out point of views throughout the book." 

We conversed for another few minutes before I told them that I was going to go walk around Olympus. Percy offered to come with, but I declined, needing to clear my head.

I eventually found a secluded spot - a park, of sorts - that overlooked most of Olympus. I sat down in the grass, everything catching up to me.

Ever since we had gotten here, things had been moving like rapid fire. I wake up, go immediately to the throne room where I find out that I am 3 years in the past. I then have barely anytime to do anything but sleep that night, before going straight to New Rome which is all the way across the country, before coming straight back here, meeting another version of myself, and then only starting to read a book that will supposedly tell the future once we get farther in. Not to mention the fact that people from our time keep showing up, and there are definitely more on the way. Just thinking about it is enough to give me a headache.

I'm not sure how much more I can handle. Only a little over a week ago I was on the Argo II flying to go fight the Earth. I mean, I was just in Tartarus, for gods sake. And now I am in the past. Those are three things that I have never had on my bucket list for a reason. 

I lay back, thinking, staring at the sky, when and image comes to my mind.

I was in nearly the same setting I was in now, only instead of being on an island floating in the sky overlooking a godly, I was in central park. There was no gods, no camp half-blood. I wasn't a demigod, just a normal human girl whose biggest problem is the next exam I had coming up. There were no titans, or giants, or earth mothers who were trying to destroy the entire world and me being only one of seven people who can stop it.

"Hey, you alright?" Percy said, appearing out of nowhere and laying down next to me.

I nodded, before looking over to him with a raised eyebrow.

As if reading my mind, he chuckled. "I know, I know, you wanted to be alone, but Athena just started to call everyone back and I had a feeling that you would want to know."

I nodded again in thanks, before looking back to the sky, not wanting to get up.

Percy propped himself up on one elbow. "Hey, you sure you're okay?"

I started to nod again before deciding to be honest. "Do you ever wish you weren't a demigod." I say, still staring at the sky.

I hear him hesitate, before replying, "Sometimes. But then I think, that if I wasn't a demigod, I would never have met you. Or Grover, or Jason, or Leo, or Frank, or Hazel, or any of the others. And I most likely wouldn't be the person I am today. And if I had to trade those things for being fully human, I would never in a millennia take up that offer."

I stare at the sky for another second, before looking over to him with a smile.

"How is it that you always know exactly what to say?"

Instead of replying, he just smiles back.

\-----

A/N: If you didn't read the beginning authors note (I know that some of you didn't, because if I was reading this story instead of writing it, I would be among you) please do. It is important if you like this story.


	15. Annabeth XV

Disclaimer: All rights go to rick riordan.

A/N Surprise, Surprise! A new chapter! Took me FOREVER to write, but its done!! I'm trying to get to the Annabeth chapter, and I hope that when I do I will get my motivation back. Also, EVERYTHING HAS BEEN EDITED. Anyway, here is the chapter... 

\-----

"I'll read now." Aphrodite said, surprising everyone. 

"What?" She said, commenting on everyone's raised eyebrows.

"We didn't know you could read." Hermes stated blandly.

Some laughter broke out among the assembled.

Aphrodite glared at him, and he- also surprisingly- shrunk back.

Athena handed over the book, and Aphrodite began.

**The ground rumbled at Hazel's feet. She looked down and saw the glint of silver coins...thousands of old Roman denarii breaking the surface all around her, as if the entire hilltop was coming to a boil. She'd been so agitated by the visions in the doorways that she must have summoned every bit of silver in the surrounding countryside.**

Hazel figeted in her seat beside me, as if agitated.

 **"The past is close to the surface in this place," Hecate said. "In ancient times, two great Roman roads met here. News was exchanged. Markets were held. Friends met, and enemies fought. Entire armies had to choose a direction. Crossroads are always places of decision."**  
  
**"Like...like Janus." Hazel remembered the shrine of Janus on Temple Hill back at Camp Jupiter. Demigods would go there to make decisions. They would flip a coin, heads or tails, and hope the two-faced god would guide them well. Hazel had always hated that place. She'd never understood why her friends were so willing to let a god take away their responsibility for choosing. After all Hazel had been through, she trusted the wisdom of the gods about as much as she trusted a New Orleans slot machine.**  
  
The gods looked highly offended by this, some of them even outright glaring at Hazel, but she just stood up straighter.

"How can you not trust our wisdom." Athena began I mean, yes, some gods are unwise." cue the glare at Poseidon, "But I am the goddess of wisdom, and I am wise."

"Not you, Lady Athena." Hazel said. "But most of the others..." she trailed off

**The goddess of magic made a disgusted hiss. "Janus and his doorways. He would have you believe that all choices are black or white, yes or no, in or out. In fact, it's not that simple. Whenever you reach the crossroads, there are always at least three ways to go...four, if you count going backward. You are at such a crossing now, Hazel."**

"Thats... interesting." Selena said.

**Hazel looked again at each swirling gateway: a demigod war, the destruction of the Argo II, disaster for herself and her friends. "All the choices are bad."**

There were some huffs of laughter at the statement. Others just looked disturbed.

**"All choices have risks," the goddess corrected. "But what is your goal?"**

"Her goal?" Lee said.

 **"My goal?" Hazel waved helplessly at the doorways.**  

A few more huffs of laughter

**"None of these."**

At this several people laughed out loud, if only to ease the tension in the air. Hazel was blushing in the background.

 **The dog Hecuba snarled. Gale the polecat skittered around the goddess's feet, farting and gnashing her teeth.  
**   
"You could go backward," Hecate suggested, "retrace your steps to Rome...but Gaea's forces are expecting that. None of you will survive."  
  
"So how is that and option?" Travis said.

**"So...what are you saying?"**

**Hecate stepped to the nearest torch. She scooped a handful of fire and sculpted the flames until she was holding a miniature relief map of Italy.  
**   
"You could go west." Hecate let her finger drift away from her fiery map. "Go back to America with your prize, the Athena Parthenos. Your comrades back home, Greek and Roman, are on the brink of war. Leave now, and you might save many lives."  
  
"Might." Young Percy deadpanned. "'Might' isn't good enough."

Several people nodded in agreement.

**"Might," Hazel repeated. "But Gaea is supposed to wake in Greece. That's where the giants are gathering."**

**"True. Gaea has set the date of August first, the Feast of Spes, goddess of hope, for her rise to power. By waking on the Day of Hope, she intends to destroy all hope forever. Even if you reached Greece by then, could you stop her? I do not know." Hecate traced her finger along the tops of the fiery Apennines. "You could go east, across the mountains, but Gaea will do anything to stop you from crossing Italy. She has raised her mountain gods against you."**  
  
**"We noticed," Hazel said.  
**   
At this several more people laughed, Hazel among them, realizing the bluntness of her statements.

**"Any attempt to cross the Apennines will mean the destruction of your ship. Ironically, this might be the safest option for your crew. I foresee that all of you would survive the explosion. It is possible, though unlikely, you could still reach Epirus and close the Doors of Death. You might find Gaea and prevent her rise. But by then, both demigod camps would be destroyed. You would have no home to return to." Hecate smiled. "More likely, the destruction of your ship would strand you in the mountains. It would mean the end of your quest, but it would spare you and your friends much pain and suffering in the days to come. The war with the giants would have to be won or lost without you."**

"So option two is also not a good option." Connor said.

Nobody reacted, as everyone began realizing the direness of the situation.

 **Won or lost without us.  
**   
A small, guilty part of Hazel found that appealing. She'd been wishing for the chance to be a normal girl. She didn't want any more pain or suffering for herself and her friends. They'd already been through so much.  
  
Hazel looked down at this, ashamed. 

"It's not just you."  _Percy_ said from beside me. "I've had thoughts like that more times that I care to admit. But as long as you don't act on them, they do not harm."

Athena raised her eyebrows at the Son of Poseidon's wise words.

I discrealy grabbed his hand, and we angled ourselves so that our intertwined fongers wouldn't be noticed by anyone.

**She looked behind Hecate at the middle gateway. She saw Percy and Annabeth sprawled helplessly before those black-and-silver doors. A massive dark shape, vaguely humanoid, now loomed over them, its foot raised as if to crush Percy.**

Everyone sucked in a breath, looking at us with pity in there eyes.  _Percy's_  grip on my hand tightened.

**"What about them?" Hazel asked, her voice ragged. "Percy and Annabeth?"**

**Hecate shrugged. "West, east, or south...they die."**  
  
I looked down at this, my shoulders sagging. Out of all of the challenge's that I have faced, holding onto hope has always been the hardest.

Percy squeezed my hand reassuringly.

**"Not an option," Hazel said.**

Everyone nodded wholeheartedly, agreeing with her statement.

**"Then you have only one path, though it is the most dangerous."**

"Of course it is." I muttered

**Hecate's finger crossed her miniature Apennines, leaving a glowing white line in the red flames. "There is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once crossed when he marched against Rome."**

**The goddess made a wide loop...to the top of Italy, then east to the sea, then down along the western coast of Greece. "Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna, and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal, here: Epirus in Greece."  
**   
Hazel didn't know much about geography. She had no idea what the Adriatic Sea was like. She'd never heard of Bologna, and all she knew about Venice was vague stories about canals and gondolas. But one thing was obvious. "That's so far out of the way."  
  
Athena was staring off into space, as if trying to find another plan.

**"Which is why Gaea will not expect you to take this route," Hecate said. "I can obscure your progress somewhat, but the success of your journey will depend on you, Hazel Levesque. You must learn to use the Mist."**

Both Percy and I looked at Hazel with questions in our eyes. Unfortunately, she didn't notice, lost in thought.

**"Me?" Hazel's heart felt like it was tumbling down her rib cage. "Use the Mist how?"**

**Hecate extinguished her map of Italy. She flicked her hand at the black dog Hecuba. Mist collected around the Labrador until she was completely hidden in a cocoon of white. The fog cleared with an audible poof! Where the dog had stood was a disgruntled-looking black kitten with golden eyes.  
**   
"Mew," it complained.  
  
"Aww." A few people said. 

"Awesome." said another.

**"I am the goddess of the Mist," Hecate explained. "I am responsible for keeping the veil that separates the world of the gods from the world of mortals. My children learn to use the Mist to their advantage, to create illusions or influence the minds of mortals. Other demigods can do this as well. And so must you, Hazel, if you are to help your friends."**

**"But..." Hazel looked at the cat. She knew it was actually Hecuba, the black Labrador, but she couldn't convince herself. The cat seemed so real. "I can't do that."**

**"Your mother had the talent," Hecate said.**  

"She did?" I asked Hazel.

"She did." Hazel confermed.

**"You have even more. As a child of Pluto who has returned from the dead, you understand the veil between worlds better than most. You can control the Mist. If you do not...well, your brother Nico has already warned you. The spirits have whispered to him, told him of your future. When you reach the House of Hades, you will meet a formidable enemy. She cannot be overcome by strength or sword. You alone can defeat her, and you will require magic."**

**Hazel's legs felt wobbly. She remembered Nico's grim expression, his fingers digging into her arm. She couldn't tell the others. Not yet. Their courage is already stretched to the limit.**

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Hazel legs wobble.

**"Who?" Hazel croaked. "Who is this enemy?"**  
  
**"I will not speak her name," Hecate said. "That would alert her to your presence before you are ready to face her. Go north, Hazel. As you travel, practice summoning the Mist. When you arrive in Bologna, seek out th** **e two dwarfs. They will lead you to a treasure that may help you survive in the House of Hades."**

**"I don't understand."**  
  
**"Mew," the kitten complained.**  
  
A few people cooed again at this.

**"Yes, yes, Hecuba." The goddess flicked her hand again, and the cat disappeared. The black Labrador was back in its place.**

**"You will understand, Hazel," the goddess promised. "From time to time, I will send Gale to check on your progress."**  
  
**The polecat hissed, its beady red eyes full of malice.  
**   
"Wonderful." Gwen said sarcastically.

**"Wonderful," Hazel muttered.**

Gwen and Hazel looked over at eachother and smiled.

 **"Before you reach Epirus, you must be prepared," Hecate said. "If you succeed, then perhaps we will meet again...for the final battle."**  
  
**A final battle, Hazel thought. Oh, joy.**  
  
Everyone seemed to be thinking similar thoughts.

**Hazel wondered if she could prevent the revelations she saw in the Mist—Leo falling through the sky; Frank stumbling through the dark, alone and gravely wounded; Percy and Annabeth at the mercy of a dark giant.**

**She hated the gods' riddles and their unclear advice. She was starting to despise crossroads.  
**   
"Aren't we all." 

It was surprisingly Artemis that said this.

**"Why are you helping me?" Hazel demanded. "At Camp Jupiter, they said you sided with the Titans in the last war."**

"What?!" Zeus roared.

I shot up before shouting.

"Lord Zeus!"

His eyes snapped to me, lightning crackling in his beard.

"You cannot punish people for things they have not done yet. Hecate, as of this time, is innocent."

I glared at Zeus.

He begrudgingly sat down, the lightning in his beard ceasing.

 **Hecate's dark eyes glinted. "Because I am a Titan—daughter of Perses and Asteria. Long before the Olympians came to power, I ruled the Mist. Despite this, in the First Titan War, millennia ago, I sided with Zeus against Kronos. I was not blind to Kronos's cruelty. I hoped Zeus would prove a better king."**  
  
**She gave a small, bitter laugh. "When Demeter lost her daughter Persephone, kidnapped by your father, I guided Demeter through the darkest night with my torches, helping her search. And when the giants rose the first time, I again sided with the gods. I fought my archenemy Clytius, made by Gaea to absorb and defeat all my magic."**  
  
**"Clytius." Hazel had never heard that name—Clai-tee-us—but saying it made her limbs feel heavy. She glanced at the images in the northern doorway—the massive dark shape looming over Percy and Annabeth. "Is he the threat in the House of Hades?"**  
  
**"Oh, he waits for you there," Hecate said. "But first you must defeat the witch. Unless you manage that..."**  
  
**She snapped her fingers, and all of the gateways turned dark. The Mist dissolved, the images gone.**  
  
"That's terrifying." Clarisse said. Everyone looked at her.

"What?" She said, confused.

Everyone just shook their heads and gestured for Aphrodite to continue.

**"We all face choices," the goddess said. "When Kronos arose the second time, I made a mistake. I supported him. I had grown tired of being ignored by the so-called major gods. Despite my years of faithful service, they mistrusted me, refused me a seat in their hall..."**

I saw  _Percy_  glaring at the gods, but likely no one noticed.

**The polecat Gale chittered angrily.**  
  
**"It does not matter anymore." The goddess sighed. "I have made peace again with Olympus. Even now, when they are laid low—their Greek and Roman personas fighting each other—I will help them. Greek or Roman, I have always been only Hecate. I will assist you against the giants, if you prove yourself worthy. So now it is your choice, Hazel Levesque. Will you trust me...or will you shun me, as the Olympian gods have done too often?"**  
  


"Why not just help her?" Pollux said, confused.

"Because she is a goddess."  _Percy_  replied, as if it answered everything.

**Blood roared in Hazel's ears. Could she trust this dark goddess, who'd given her mother the magic that ruined her life? Sorry, no. She didn't much like Hecate's dog or her gassy polecat, either.**  
**  
**But she also knew she couldn't let Percy and Annabeth die.  
  


Athena and Poseidon nodded at Hazel approvingly, then glared at each other for having the same response.

**"I'll go north," she said. "We'll take your secret pass through the mountains."**  
  
**Hecate nodded, the slightest hint of satisfaction in her face. "You have chosen well, though the path will not be easy. Many monsters will rise against you. Even some of my own servants have sided with Gaea, hoping to destroy your mortal world."**  
  
**The goddess took her double torches from their stands. "Prepare yourself, daughter of Pluto. If you succeed against the witch, we will meet again."**  
  
**"I'll succeed," Hazel promised. "And Hecate? I'm not choosing one of your paths. I'm making my own."**  
  


"Good for you, girl." Artemis said.

Everyone looked at Hazel impressed.

But instead of shying away from the attention, like I expected her to, she merely sat up straighter and nodded to Artemis in thanks.

**The goddess arched her eyebrows. Her polecat writhed, and her dog snarled.**  
  
**"We're going to find a way to stop Gaea," Hazel said. "We're going to rescue our friends from Tartarus. We're going keep the crew and the ship together, and we're going to stop Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood from going to war. We're going to do it all."**

Hazel was simmering beside me.

**The storm howled, the black walls of the funnel cloud swirling faster.**

**"Interesting," Hecate said, as if Hazel were an unexpected result in a science experiment. "That would be magic worth seeing."**  
  
**A wave of darkness blotted out the world. When Hazel's sight returned, the storm, the goddess, and her minions were gone. Hazel stood on the hillside in the morning sunlight, alone in the ruins except for Arion, who paced next to her, nickering impatiently.**  
  
**"I agree," Hazel told the horse. "Let's get out of here."**  
  
"That is one smart horse." Someone commented.

**"What happened?" Leo asked as Hazel climbed aboard the Argo II.**

**Hazel's hands still shook from her talk with the goddess.**

I could see Hazel's hands shaking. She clenched them into fists in an effort to stop them.

 _Interesting,_ I thought.

**She glanced over the rail and saw the dust of Arion's wake stretching across the hills of Italy. She had hoped her friend would stay, but couldn't blame him for wanting to get away from this place as fast as possible.**

"Yup, that's a really smart horse." someone said again.

**The countryside sparkled as the summer sun hit the morning dew. On the hill, the old ruins stood white and silent—no sign of ancient paths, or goddesses, or farting weasels.**

The audience laughed at this.

**"Hazel?" Nico asked.**

**Her knees buckled. Nico and Leo grabbed her arms and helped her to the steps of the foredeck. She felt embarrassed, collapsing like some fairy-tale damsel, but her energy was gone.**

Hazel sagged beside me. I quickly caught her.

"Hazel?!" I said.

Everyone looked my way. 

She looked at me wearily, as if... as if all of her energy was gone.

Apollo rushed over, putting a hand on her head, before assesing her.

He frowned. "There is nothing wrong with her."

"I think..." I started, praying I was wrong. "I think we feel what the book describes happens to us."

Everyone stared at me.

"Think about it." I urged. "Chaos specifically told us that we had to read  _every_  word. Why else would Chaos say that. And Hazel," I faced her, "you have been feeling all of the sensations this book has described about you right?"

"I suppose.." She said.

"By my future self fell from a mast." Nico said. "And I didn't feel anything."

"Maybe... Maybe that's because it only affects those of us from 2017."

It was all coming together.

"But, you guys said you were in Tartarus, so..." Piper trailed off.

"We have to relive all of the pain we have already experienced."

Everyone was looking at  us with a mixture of pity and horror.

After a few minutes, all the while processing the recently uncovered information, we gestured for Aphrodite to continue.

**The memory of those glowing scenes at the crossroads filled her with dread.**

**"I met Hecate," she managed.**  
  
**She didn't tell them everything. She remembered what Nico had said: Their courage is already stretched to the limit. But she told them about the secret northern pass through the mountains, and the detour Hecate described that could take them to Epirus.  
**   
**When she was done, Nico took her hand. His eyes were full of concern. "Hazel, you met Hecate at a crossroads. That's...that's something many demigods don't survive. And the ones who do survive are never the same. Are you sure you're—"**  
  
**"I'm fine," she insisted.**  
  


"I am feeling better now." She said, easing off me.

 **But she knew she wasn't. She remembered how bold and angry she'd felt, telling the goddess she'd find her own path and succeed at everything. Now her boast seemed ridiculous. Her courage had abandoned her.**  
  
It seemed that the longer this chapter went one, the more people's shoulders sagged.

**"What if Hecate is tricking us?" Leo asked. "This route could be a trap."**

Athena nodded, having been thinking the same thing.

**Hazel shook her head. "If it was a trap, I think Hecate would've made the northern route sound tempting. Believe me, she didn't."**

Athena nodded again, also believing this.

**Leo pulled a calculator out of his tool belt and punched in some numbers. "That's...something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to Venice. Then we'd have to backtrack down the Adriatic. And you said something about baloney dwarfs?"**

There were a few chuckles at this, but only to help break the tension.

**"Dwarfs in Bologna," Hazel said. "I guess Bologna is a city. But why we have to find dwarfs there...I have no idea. Some sort of treasure to help us with the quest."**

**"Huh," Leo said. "I mean, I'm all about treasure, but—"**  
  
**"It's our best option." Nico helped Hazel to her feet. "We have to make up for lost time, travel as fast as we can. Percy's and Annabeth's lives might depend on it."**  
  
People glanced over at me and  _Percy_.

**"Fast?" Leo grinned. "I can do fast."**

**He hurried to the console and started flipping switches.**  
  
**Nico took Hazel's arm and guided her out of earshot. "What else did Hecate say? Anything about—"**  
  
**"I can't." Hazel cut him off. The images she'd seen had almost overwhelmed her: Percy and Annabeth helpless at the feet of those black metal doors, the dark giant looming over them, Hazel herself trapped in a glowing maze of light, unable to help.**  
**  
**You must defeat the witch, Hecate had said. You alone can defeat her. Unless you manage that...  
**  
**The end, Hazel thought. All gateways closed. All hope extinguished.  
  
**Nico had warned her. He'd communed with the dead, heard them whispering hints about their future. Two children of the Underworld would enter the House of Hades. They would face an impossible foe. Only one of them would make it to the Doors of Death.**

**Hazel couldn't meet her brother's eyes.**  
  
**"I'll tell you later," she promised, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Right now, we should rest while we can. Tonight, we cross the Apennines."**

"Done." Aphrodite said.

\-----

A/N: DONE... finally. That took FOREVER. Though on the plus side, it was my longest chapter yet (Over 3,500 words.)

And please comment, it makes all of my hard work worth it, hearing your feed back. 

And just as something to look forward two, the next HoH chapter is from Annabeth's POV...


	16. Aphrodite XVI

Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan. Bolded text (except for authors note) was written by Rick Riordan, not me.

A/N: Hi. So, I'm not dead, though due to the fact that I haven't written since April, I can see why you would have though I was. Just something to no about me- I have no interest in the Percy Jackson series anymore. I am only writing this story because of how hard I have worked on it and because I feel bad because I am almost to Tartarus and I know that is what everyone is waiting for. This probably wont be my last chapter, but please don't expect a chapter anytime soon after this. If this one gets a lot of good feedback, then I probably will.

**PLEASE READ!!!**

**Now, I know that people who are readers don't understand the time and effort it takes to write this. I know that, because before I started writing, I always got mad at an author when they didn't update.** **It is you comments that makes it worth it. To know that people are actually reading my storing and liking it is a amazing. So I know writing a comment seems like "too much work" or something, but please take the time to give me feed back.** **Even something as simple as "Great!" or "I love this" or "*some sort of feedback, either positive, or _politely_  constructive*" would mean the world to me.**

Also, please pay attention to the fact that this is in Aphrodite's POV. I've decided to start playing around with perspectives. Please tell me if you like it. **  
**

\-----

While the other gods bickered about who would read next, I decided to flip to another page. I scanned it, and sucked in a breath, thinking back to the revelation that was made during the last chapter. I had a feeling that  _Perseus_  and  _Ms. Chase_  wouldn't like the turn the story was about to take. They were about to re-experience hell, which is something I would curse someone to once, let alone twice.

Apollo, who was sitting to my right, was oddly quiet. I guessed he had looked over my shoulder to scan the page as well.

I leaned over and whispered,

"I think you should sit next to them, see if you can do anything to ease their pain."

Apollo wordlessly nodded, not needing me to specify who "them" was, and silently stood and walked over to  _Perseus_ and  _Annabeth_ , who looked at him in confusion. 

After a few seconds  _Annabeth'_ s eyes lit up in realization, which quickly changed to fear.  _Perseus_  looked at her questioningly, and she leaned over to whisper in his ear. His expression quickly matched hers.

I scanned the gods, before I found one who would do.

"Hestia, would you like to read?" I asked, interrupting the other gods bickering.

Ares started to protest, but I held up a hand, cutting him off. 

I put my finger in the book to hold the page, the stood up and walked over to Hestia, my steps not as graceful as they should have been.

She gently grabbed the book, and looked at the page as I walked back to my seat. Hestia the looked over to  _Perseus_  and _Annabeth_  in sorrow.  _Annabeth_ nodded. The gods did not miss the exchange, and looked at Hestia questioningly. 

Hestia just looked down at her book and began to read.

**"Annabeth,**

Everyone's head shot up, there backs becoming straighter as they sat in attention, holding on to Hestia's every word as if it was their lifeline.

**NINE DAYS.**

**As she fell,-**

_Annabeth_ doubled over, and clenched her eyes shut. Apollo shot up and rushed over to her, putting a glowing hand on her back. 

She waved him off.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She said, her face relaxing. "It just felt for a second as though I was... falling." 

Peoples eyes began filling with horror, but  _Annabeth_  and  _Perseus_ just sat back, accepting their fate.

"Your just going to accept this?!" A girl- Clarisse, I think- said angrily.

"What else are we supposed to do? Fight it?"  _Perseus_ said

"Yes!" Clarisse said.

"How?" _Perseus_  shot back.

No one had an answer for that.

Hestia began reading again as the silence became unbearable.

**Annabeth thought about Hesiod, the old Greek poet who'd speculated it would take nine days to fall from earth to Tartarus.**

_Annabeth_  doubled over again, Apollo right next to her- again- with that glowing hand on her back. As if trying to ease her pain. We might be gods, but we weren't heartless.

**She hoped Hesiod was wrong. She'd lost track of how long she and Percy had been falling –hours? A day? It felt like an eternity. They'd been holding hands ever since they'd dropped into the chasm. Now Percy pulled her close, hugging her tight as they tumbled through absolute darkness.**

Suddenly _Perseus- Percy_ , I guess- doubled over as well. One of Apollo's sons- the one name William, Will? Yes, Will- stepped up and sat next to  _Percy,_  helping him.

**Wind whistled in Annabeth's ears.**

_Annabeth_ reached up to cover her ears.

**The air grew hotter and damper, as if they were plummeting into the throat of a massive dragon. Her recently broken ankle throbbed,**

Apollo's hand was at her ankle before she could so much as jerk.

**though she couldn't tell if it was still wrapped in spiderwebs.**

**That cursed monster Arachne. Despite having been trapped in her own webbing, smashed by a carand plunged into Tartarus, the spider lady had got her revenge. Somehow her silk had entangled Annabeth's leg and dragged her over the side of the pit, with Percy in tow.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. What happened."

Which led to  _Annabeth_  going into a very long, intense tale of what had happened up until this point.

While everyone was still processing this information, Hestia began abruptly reading again, obviously wanting to get the chapter done as soon as possible.

**Annabeth couldn't imagine that Arachne was still alive, somewhere below them in the darkness.She didn't want to meet that monster again when they reached the bottom. On the bright side, assuming there was a bottom, Annabeth and Percy would probably be flattened on impact, so giant spiderswere the least of their worries.**

Everyone winced, praying to the gods sitting in front of them that that wouldn't happen.

What they didn't know was that I, along with several of the others, were also praying.

To what? I had no idea.

**She wrapped her arms around Percy and tried not to sob. She'd never expected her life to be easy.Most demigods died young at the hands of terrible monsters. That was the way it had been since ancient times. The Greeks invented tragedy. They knew the greatest heroes didn't get happy endings.**

I looked down, feeling guilty. Some of those deaths I could have prevented. Some of them I had even caused. 

Seeing this from a demigods point of view was rather... shocking, to say the least.

**Still, this wasn't fair. She'd gone through so much to retrieve that statue of Athena. Just when she'd succeeded, when things had been looking up and she'd been reunited with Percy, they had plunged to their deaths.**

**Even the gods couldn't devise a fate so twisted.**

I didn't know whether that was a compliment or an insult, but I let it slide due to the fact that Annabeth was currently doubled over with wind whistling in her ear, so she probably couldn't hear I would have said anyway.

**But Gaia wasn't like other gods. The Earth Mother was older, more vicious, more blood thirsty. Annabeth could imagine her laughing as they fell into the depths.**

**Annabeth pressed her lips to Percy's ear. 'I love you.'**

I think a part of me just died inside. Just a little.

**She wasn't sure he could hear her**

_Percy_ nodded, as if saying that he had.

**– but if they were going to die she wanted those to be her last words.**

I think another part of me just died again.

**She tried desperately to think of a plan to save them. She was a daughter of Athena. She'd proven herself in the tunnels under Rome, beaten a whole series of challenges with only her wits. But she couldn't think of any way to reverse or even slow their fall.**

**Neither of them had the power to fly – not like Jason, who could control the wind, or Frank, who could turn into a winged animal. If they reached the bottom at terminal velocity ... well, she knew enough science to know it would be terminal.**

**She was seriously wondering whether they could fashion a parachute out of their shirts – that'show desperate she was – when something about their surroundings changed. The darkness took on agrey-red tinge. She realized she could see Percy's hair as she hugged him. The whistling in her earsturned into more of a roar. The air became intolerably hot, permeated with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Both  _Percy_  and _Annabeth's_  hands shot up to cover their noses. As if they could actually smell it.

As if their pain couldn't get any worse. Not only did they feel the physical side of things, but their other senses were affected as well. Why did Tartarus have to smell like rotten eggs. Why not flowers? Or perfume? Everyone loves perfume... which is probably why Tartarus didn't smell like it.

Ugh, my brain was starting to hurt from so much thinking.

**Suddenly, the chute they'd been falling through opened into a vast cavern. Maybe half a mile below them, Annabeth could see the bottom. For a moment she was too stunned to think properly. The entire island of Manhattan could have fitted inside this cavern – and she couldn't even see its full extent.**

**Red clouds hung in the air like vaporized blood. The landscape – at least what she could see of it –was rocky black plains, punctuated by jagged mountains and fiery chasms. To Annabeth's left, the ground dropped away in a series of cliffs, like colossal steps leading deeper into the abyss.**

**The stench of sulfur made it hard to concentrate,**

_Annabeth_ shook her head, as if trying to clear her senses.

**but she focused on the ground directly below them and saw a ribbon of glittering black liquid – a river.**

**'Percy!' she yelled in his ear. 'Water!'**

People shot up, suddenly filled with hope. As if they hadn't realized that Percy and Annabeth had to survive this to have spent another week in Tartarus.

Idiots, all of them.

**She gestured frantically. Percy's face was hard to read in the dim red light. He looked shellshocked and terrified, but he nodded as if he understood.**

**Percy could control water – assuming that was water below them. He might be able to cushion their fall somehow. Of course Annabeth had heard horrible stories about the rivers of the Underworld.They could take away your memories, or burn your body and soul to ashes. But she decided not to think about that. This was their only chance.The river hurtled towards them. At the last second, Percy yelled defiantly.**

**The water erupted in a massive geyser and swallowed them whole.  
**

"So, who wants to read next?"

**\-----**

A/N: So I know what you are thinking. Is their some romance type thing going on between Apollo and Annabeth? The answer is definitely not. Apollo is a doctor, as is Will, and they can both act professional when need be. Annabeth is Apollo's patient, and through out this story I will probably make them really close friends, but there is nothing romantic that will go on between them. Ever. I hate it whenever people think that guys and girls can't just be really really good friends and want nothing romantic to do with each other. So don't worry, Percabeth fans, this story will be staying strictly canon. But I do like the idea of an Apollo/Annabeth close friendship type thing. What do you think?


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